Love's Blessings
by Twilightobsessed09
Summary: Dangerous Kind Of Love Sequel: Jasper loved his family. He had a great life but his past wasn't about to let him go. There were dangers lurking around every corner and the only way he can protect the life he has come to know is to remember who he truly was. Jasper/Bella AH, OOC, Mature.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction. The plot herein is mine. All recognizable characters and mentions of recognizable areas belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement is intended. No re** **production of this story is permitted without my consent!**

 **This story contains mature themes and is suitable for those eighteen and over. This story is unedited.**

 _ **Summary:**_ _Jasper loved his family. He had a great life but his past wasn't about to let him go. There were dangers lurking around every corner and the only way he can protect the life he has come to know is to remember who he truly was. Jasper/Bella AH, OOC, Mature._

 _ **Chapter 1: Reality or Not**_

 _ **Jasper, 2006**_

The prison transit bus pulled to a stop in front of the gates of the prison that would be my home for the next…I didn't give a shit how long. We sat there for a while and then we were moving again after the gates were opened to let the bus inside.

I was promptly loaded on this bus after my second court appearance for emergency sentencing.

As soon as my gunshot wound got patched up at the hospital and I had woken up to a reality I didn't want to even want to fathom because it couldn't be true, I was brought back to the court house. It was frenzied. The truck was there, burning a little and a lot of emergency services were around. Most people seemed to stop moving when I was unloaded from the prison van and made to walk inside from the front again. I felt like a zoo animal on display but it didn't bother me as much as it should. I just wanted to get this over with.

On my way inside, I kept thinking Bella was playing a trick on the enemies we had. Maybe she came up with this 'I'm dead because I got blown to bits bit' to escape Agent Collins. You couldn't work and no one would be looking for you if you're dead, right?

But if Bella did plan this, then Agent Collins, Mr. D, had to know. That bastard didn't look like the type to let much escape him. He might even have been the one to get her to do this so she would be indebted even more to him.

I didn't like that at all. I wanted her gone. Escaped with my baby so they could live better life without the violence.

Who was I kidding? What was I thinking? This wasn't true. Bella was in that…she was in the truck and it blew…it blew up.

No!

This was a plan. Bella was fine.

My mind kept going back and forth on this. I knew what I saw. I just refused to accept it because Bella was smart. It couldn't be. It just couldn't.

When they finally got me inside, dragging me before the same judge who had dealt with my previous sentencing, they made the mistake of having that bitch I had attacked in there with me. Siobhan, standing as my attorney again, said the skank was from the FBI and she was Agent Lauren Mallory.

Admittedly, I still felt a little out of it from whatever they injected me with to calm me down. But as soon as I saw the bitch enough of my strength returned and I tried to attack her again. It took about five or six guards to restrain me while the judge spoke. Her words about Bella being my whore and her 'good riddance' comment after the explosion and Bella's possible demise, kept ringing in my ear.

The judge told me he found me disgusting and I was something lower than human to attack Agent Lauren Mallory of the FBI. I told him to go fuck himself and that this Lauren Mallory was a skank bitch who was sucking Banner's dick for promotion. I didn't know if it was true but it felt good to say that shit. Especially with how shock the bitch looked when I said it in her direction. Her eyes popped out of her ugly head like she thought I was a fly on the wall when she was down on her knees in front of that slimy bastard, Banner.

The judge again reprimanded me. But I didn't care. I told him none of the Agents in the room were half as good as Bella or James. Compared to those two, the rest of them were useless and disappointing.

In the end, I had said enough to get judgment passed on my ass again and I was given ten more years on my life sentence with a possibility of parole in now 40 years instead of 30.

It didn't bother me one bit because in my mind I was already dead. If I chose to accept what happened outside, the last look Bella and I shared before she got in the truck and it blew up afterward, I was already dead.

While they took me away Siobhan said she would keep fighting. It wasn't over. She was saying shit like that. But the look on her face was saying something I couldn't decipher. My thinking was clouded with grief. And whatever she was willing to try wouldn't get me what I really wanted.

It wouldn't give Bella back to me.

She was gone.

The doors of the bus opened and the guards began to order us inmates around. Shouting like fucking drill sergeants, these assholes thought they were getting somewhere. I wouldn't be moved. If they thought I was going to fall in line, they had another thing coming. One came over to me, shouting his stinking breath in my face, ordering me to get up and move my ass. I scrunched up my nose at his bad breath and asked if he was sucking that much dick that his breath smelled like ass. His eyes bugged out and he grabbed me up by my collar, getting in my face.

"Listen here boy, you're gonna be mine!" he said, still breathing his unsavory scented breath in my face.

I felt like I was going to catch something from him just talking to me. "Get out of my face STD breath!" I told him. "I don't want to catch something from your stank breath. Stop giving the guys rim jobs and go and brush your teeth!"

I knew I was cruising for a beating. But I didn't care.

I was practically thrown from the bus. The other prisoners were looking on and I guess I had to establish who was going to be boss around here during my stay. If not that, they I wanted them to stay away from me. For their own safety. My mind wasn't in a right place. And I wouldn't care who I took it out on.

Starting now.

While the stink breath drill sergeant guard shouted at me to get up off the ground. I slowly took my time, rising up. I was on my knees when he said, "You better get used to being on your knees or bend over 'cause that's all a pretty boy like you will be doing."

Oh fuck no! He didn't go there.

He was chuckling. But I wasn't laughing. I had chains around my ankles connected to my handcuffs and he was too far away so I took this slow, dramatically playing out getting up and when he got aggravated by my sloth attitude he stalked over to me, getting close enough for me to strike. Some of the other guards weren't close to us and the few that were close were preoccupied with other prisoners so I had the perfect opportunity to hurt this motherfucker and I took it.

When he got close, I kneed his ass in his balls repeatedly much to cheers of the prisoners, taking the son of a bitch down. As he fell, I kicked him in the face over and over again with swift powerful strikes to break the fucker's face.

I was tackled to the ground by his co-workers and lifted up and taken inside. The prisoners shouting and cheering and I was cussing every last one of the guards carrying me.

I was unceremoniously dumped on the ground. I fought off any guard that got too close. But I was eventually overpowered and stripped and searched. The female guard who gave me a cavity check enjoyed that shit way too much. She must be their skank. After she was through while trying to rough me up, I was hosed down like a dog and then given a few minutes to dress. I was dragged to collect my number and belongings such as pillow and sheet and then taken to my cell which was surprising. I expected to go to the solitary after attacking a guard like that

But I realized why I was sitting in my cell when I was visited by the warden and realized that it was an old pal of my father's.

Charles Blake was an okay guy. He was a 6"1 in height African-American guy in his early fifties with a really good sense of humor.

"Goddamn it, boy," he said as he came into my cell and took a seat on the bunk bed next to me slapping me on the back. "You just couldn't come in here without causing a ruckus, could you?"

"He was talking trash and his breath almost made me pass out," I said with a shrug.

Blake laughed heartily. "Listen, kid, I know you and I owe your old man a great debt I will never be able to repay him." A while back when I was younger, my pop helped Charles get out of some serious trouble and he hadn't forgotten Dad. "He's a good guy." I gave him a look and he laughed. "Yeah, yeah, I know. When your pop wanted to be, he was a good guy. Anyways, you're here with me now and he isn't around anymore. I'm sincerely sorry about that, kid."

"Thanks," I said solemnly. It was weird. Pop and I couldn't see eye to eye when he was around and now that he was dead and gone, I wanted nothing more than to talk to him. To ask him about anything. To tell him about Bella and the baby. To see him with his grandkid.

I'll never have that.

Because of Aro.

Charles and I went on to talk. He told me about what my stay at his prison could entail. He joked about not being around as long as me since he was an old guy, but he wanted me to be careful. He wanted me to stick around for a little while longer.

"Be careful about whom you befriend in here, and who you make your enemy, you hear me?" He sounded like a good uncle, warning me about the dangers of the world in prison.

I already knew what I was going to do. I knew what I wanted. I just had to make sure of something first.

"Banner?" I asked. I didn't need to say anything else.

Charles bristled at the name. Yeah, he knew about that snitch bastard.

"He's headed here, right?" I inquired.

"He is," Charles said with a chuckle. "You got…" I gave him a look and he didn't go any further. "Got you, kid."

After Charles left me the day turned into night with me sitting in my cell. I thought about everything. But mostly, I thought about Bella.

I think she would have made a beautiful bride.

My first day soon turned into my first week and then my first month in prison. None of it passed without me getting into some fight or teaching some punk a lesson almost every other day. By the end of my first week, I had a gang rallied around me. I had noticed the segregation of the inmates. Hispanics to Hispanics, Blacks to Blacks, Asians to Asians and the Aryan Brotherhood who thought I would have made a good addition to their cause. But I made it very clear that I didn't follow anyone, I was a leader. When my words weren't enough and they tried to gang up on me in the showers thinking a gang rape would put me in my place, my attacker, who lost an ear because I bit it off, learned through my fists and feet stomping in his face that I didn't follow, I lead.

My gang was diverse. I had just about every outsider from any one of the races under this roof working for me. Even the two new additions to the prison, Embry and Paul. They were fucking huge! Both stood at least 6" something in height and were built like pro wrestlers. They were Native Americans and came from a sleepy little town I was familiar with called, Forks, in Washington. These guys were from a gang I was very much aware of because of Bella. It was run by her friend, Jacob Black's father, Billy Black.

Was it a coincidence that these guys were here and decided to join up with my gang and wanted to watch my back?

The side of me that chose to believe Bella was still alive thought Embry and Paul were here at Bella's beseech to watch over me until she could bust me out of here.

While the side that chose to believe that she had died, just thought it was my girl's way out watching out for me from the beyond.

Did I believe in spirits or ghosts and all that shit? Was it a little crazy to? I didn't care. As long as it made me think about Bella and I didn't feel like ripping my heart out of my chest, I was okay with it.

The other day I got a present. After being sent here, I anxiously awaited Banner's arrival. I swore I was going to kill him as soon as I saw him. But the fucker got his shit delayed or diverted some way how. He got sent to another prison and I was down Charles' neck about why. Charles told me, yeah, I got that much pull I could have a meeting with the fucking warden whenever I wanted. At least for now. I didn't know who they were going to send when Charles had to leave.

Like he said, he was an old guy. He wasn't going to stick around for the 40 years I had in here.

He said it was bureaucratic shit and Banner had some pull and he was scared to come here.

Of course he would be I thought while Charles told me this. I was here. And if I betrayed me I would be afraid of me too.

So I had to wait.

I passed the time with reading and hanging out in the yard. I worked out daily and would shoot hoops with the guys and talked shit when I wasn't beat the shit out of motherfuckers who crossed me or guards who thought it was okay to offend me. That shit got me sent to solitary a lot. I used my connections on the outside to hook my gang up with things like bitches to fuck and Oreo cookies. They were always worrying about me. Wanting to know if I didn't want to partake.

Why would I?

I mean I tried. I was getting head from one of the bitches my guys on the outside had sent, and I had to stop her and run her out.

She wasn't who I wanted. I felt like she shouldn't even be touching me. The love I had overthrew the need to get off.

Besides, every time I closed my eyes I saw Bella. I saw her smile. Heard her rare laugh. She was haunting me. I dreamt about her a lot. A lot of them were of her and me watching her stomach grow as our kid grew safely in her womb. And then the dream would end and I would wake up to the reality of her being gone. It would tear me apart. Sometimes I would let out an anguished cry and tear my cell apart. Other times I would sit up silently in bed, just willing myself to go back to sleep so I could see her again.

Today was a hard day. The morning had started off with me dreaming of Bella.

 _She was standing by this window, the sunlight shining beautifully through it highlighting her beautiful form in her summer dress with the hem swimming at her ankles. I walked up to her, wrapping my hands around her and her round stomach._

" _It won't be long now," I said in her ear._

 _She chuckled lightly. "Just a few weeks to go," she whispered._

 _I turned her to me, smiling as her dark eyes took me in. Staring into her eyes sometimes made me feel like I was staring into an abyss I was more than willing to get lost in._

" _What?" She laughed._

" _What?" I repeated with a smirk._

 _She laughed again. "Why are you staring at me?"_

" _Because you're beautiful," I replied with ease because it was true._

" _Quit it." As usual she didn't believe me. She moved to step away but I held her tight._

" _I mean it," I said with conviction. "You're beautiful."_

" _I'm fat," she countered._

" _And beautiful." I smiled._

" _I'm annoying," She tried again. "And stubborn, disobedient and very violent."_

 _I laughed. "And I still love you so fucking much. Oh yeah, and you're beautiful."_

" _You're a fool," She was trying to hurt me to make me stop complimenting her._

" _Who is in love with the most beautiful woman he has the pleasure of knowing."_

 _She smiled and pulled me into a kiss._

I opened my eyes as the tears freely ran down my pillows.

She would have almost been nine months pregnant. My kid would have almost been here. It would have been any day now.

I thought about smashing my cell but I had something better in mind. I think it was a good way to relieve the stress I felt. Since he had been sent here a couple weeks ago and had even formed alliances already with some fuckers I didn't like, I think it was only right to take my frustration out on him.

The people he rolled with had stabbed and killed one of my guys in a riot their asses started about two weeks ago. I spotted Banner during the fights that broke out and I was going after the bastard but I got caught up in a fight and he got away.

If he hadn't, he would be dead by now. I would have killed him during those fights.

By the end of it some inmates were killed including one of my guys.

But today would be different. I wasn't ready to kill him yet. I just wanted to beat the shit out of him.

I waited for the perfect moment and it came while we were in the showers. I spotted Banner and I made a move. Embry and Paul were flanking me and moved with me. We started a fight and I got to Banner. He looked frightened as shit to be face-to-face with me and I loved it. I punched the bastard in the face, hearing something crack and listening to him holler like a wounded animal as he held his broken nose. I wasn't satisfied. I needed more. He needed to hurt as much as I did.

So I beat his ass into oblivion and I didn't stop hitting the bastard until they dragged me away. The guards took me to solitary naked, kicking and screaming. They threw me in there and threw my clothes at me, slamming the heavy door shut.

I paced the room for a bit then put my pants on and slid to the cold floor, feeling a little better.

 _ **Bella, 2006**_

The dream was so real. He was here. I knew it. But when I opened my eyes, he was gone. I sighed and sat up in bed, leaning my head against the headboard. I desperately wanted to get out of here, but if Carlisle caught me taking a step outside of this room, he would run my ass right back to bed.

He was such an asshole. But I needed him. He was my doctor. And I should listen to what he says. I really should. I was just such a disobedient bitch it wasn't even funny. He posted guards outside my room like his son, Edward, or his daughter-in-law, Leah. There was also Rosie but she was away on assignment but promised to try and make it back for the twins' birth.

Yeah. Twins. Girls.

When Carlisle told me I damn near passed out. I was nervous enough about fucking up one kid's life and now I was going to have two.

I needed Jasper here with me.

A tear fell from my eye and I swiftly wiped it away. I knew that as much as I wanted him here. I couldn't have him. At least not yet. And even when I could, I wasn't sure he would ever forgive me for what I had done. I didn't mean to do it. But it was the most believable thing I could do in front of them all. It was a huge risk I had to take. I wasn't about to take the stand in Banner's case so they could pin their bullshit on me. Banner made his bed and thought he could work with gangsters, take their money, feed them with information and even get good agents killed and he wouldn't pay for it? I don't think so.

My brother died. Jasper was heading to prison and his ass would walk scot free and he would be secretly thanked for his service and sent home with his under the table pension. I knew how this shit worked. They would discharge him and ridicule him in public for the audience of those who chose to believe the hype. In private, they'd laugh with him and pay him off and send him on his way with neat little package.

That wasn't going to happen. I wouldn't allow it. And I wouldn't become the scapegoat. I wasn't bound to appear so the defense couldn't do shit about it. And I would be gone before they could request it. It was just the way I had to be gone was what hurt the most. I knew it was going to kill Jasper. But I had to do it. Dad was right when he came up with the plan. Jake was ready to execute it.

We may not be able to get rid of Agent Collins yet, but we could get the FBI off my back if they thought I was dead.

I knew this when I went to see Jasper and it burned me not to be able to tell him our plans but his part had to be played out by him without his knowledge. It had to be real. I didn't doubt that Jasper could fake it if I had told him what we were planning. But Charlie was adamant that we keep him out of the loop.

I hated it.

Charlie and I argued a lot about it and almost came to blow. It was Rose who proved to be peacemaker as she stood between us. She didn't agree with Dad wholeheartedly but she told me we had to do it his way. It was some shit about not wanting to lose me. And then I remembered Jamie. Dad was still hurting and he just wanted to protect us. He wasn't sold on my relationship with Jasper but he knew I didn't care for his opinion on it. He couldn't tell me who I could love.

So I did things Charlie's way and I let Jasper think he had gotten through to me when he spoke threateningly to me at the Detention Center. I hoped he knew that I wanted to break his nose for grabbing my throat like that. He was lucky.

The door cracked open and Leah peeked inside.

"Oh, you're awake," she said.

"Yeah."

She came into the room and took a seat on the edge of my bed with a deep sigh. I didn't have to ask. I knew what her deep sigh meant.

Jasper had gotten into trouble again.

"What did he do this time?"

Since my 'death' and Jasper was treated from the gunshot wound to his shoulder and he sent to the USP Marion in Williamson County, near Marion, Illinois, he had been up to no good. From day one, it was fights and severe beatings of inmates and guards who had crossed him. He has been sent to the solitary more times than I could count.

I was almost nine months pregnant and a part of me couldn't wait to get to the next phase of my plan; getting Jasper out of prison before he died in there. We had eyes on him. About two of Billy Black's boys, Embry and Paul, were 'sent' there for their crimes. It was all a part of my plan and they would be 'leaving' when I got Jasper out. It was the deal I cut with Billy Black myself.

Dad was pissed when he came back from a sting operation and found out Carlisle, Edward, Leah and I had travelled to Forks, Washington from our new home in Boulder, Colorado to meet with Billy.

 _I slept through most of the travel to Forks. Every time I closed my eyes, I kept remembering the day I broke the man I loved. Siobhan said he was like a beast. It was the worst she had ever seen him. They had further charged him for attacking Lauren and threatening to finish what he started in open court. He told the judge to go fuck himself as he added ten years to Jasper's sentence. He would now serve life in prison with the possibility of parole in 40 years._

 _My heart plummeted when she told me. I almost passed out. And I ended crying my heart out on Carlisle's shoulder that day. I had broken his heart and I felt like my heart was shattering along with his._

 _I fell into depression. Leah and Edward tried to get through to me. Rose and Dad. But I listened to no one. In the end, it was Carlisle who got through to me. He reminded me of the hopes Jasper had for me and the baby I was carrying for him (before I found out they were twins) and told me I should live for that because it was what Jasper wanted. And when he thought that wouldn't do, Carlisle added, "You could always bust him out of prison," He had said with a shrug._

 _I wanted to. "Yeah, I could. But I don't want to do it and make him a fugitive."_

" _Yeah," Carlisle said with a pensive look._

 _Then it was Edward who came up with the perfect idea._

" _Then we kill him," he said._

" _Like Bella," Leah added. These two were like two peas in a pod. But it made sense._

" _We can't blow up the prison," I said with a chuckle._

" _No, but there are ways to make a live man appear dead," Carlisle said._

" _Let's look into those ways," I had said to them._

 _Billy was very welcoming. It felt surreal being back where I grew up, but I didn't have the luxury of being nostalgic. I was here on a mission to get Jasper out of the bind he was currently in. Even if he had to work with me while I did the government's dirty deeds for Agent Collins, I didn't care. I wanted him with me and our child. I had promised him. And despite his lack of confidence that I'd be able to pull it off, I was going to get him out of prison if it was the last thing I did._

 _And I was going to make him untouchable. He would not be a fugitive. We weren't going to run. I wasn't going to give Agent Collins, Mr. D, the satisfaction. I needed to be on top of things. On the right side of law… for now. At least until I got my hands on Aro and Renee. Then all bets would be off. But first things first, getting Jasper out of prison._

 _Billy Black welcomed us on the reservation. I introduced Carlisle, Edward, and Leah as good friends and family. Leah looked shocked at my admission. But she smiled letting me know she liked it. I didn't waste any time. I got right down to business while Billy joked around with me about getting caught by some charmer, referring to my pregnancy. He knew more about Jasper than I initially thought._

 _Then again, I shouldn't have put it past him. Billy was an inquisitive kind of guy._

" _Billy, I need your help," I said to him. He offered me a glass of lemonade he had gotten up and poured himself._

 _With a smile, he said, "What does Charlie's little honey bee want of Uncle Billy?"_

 _Billy had a sick sense of humor. He could be laughing with you one second and whooping your ass the next with a smile on his face._

" _I need people watching Jasper's back."_

" _You mean Jasper Whitlock?" He teased._

" _Yes," I huffed. I wasn't in the mood to mess around but Billy was and I had to oblige if I wanted him to hear me out. "How do you know Jasper?"_

" _Well, I don't know him personally but I hear the boy is a force to be reckoned with. Damn good at what he does," Billy said in what I could only describe as admiration. "Its pity what happened to his family. His brother and father. Aro Volturi, your real daddy, he did them in, right?"_

 _And there it was. Another one of Billy's traits. Taunting you until you cracked so he could have fun at your expense. Carlisle chuckled and joined the conversation. "You know quite a bit from out here in the middle of nowhere," he said snidely._

 _That wiped the smile off of Billy's face. "You're lucky I like your 'cleaning' work, Carlisle."_

" _Or else what?" Carlisle goaded Billy. "You'd have your boys tune me up?"_

 _Billy pulled a gun and pointed it at Edward's head. "No, I could take something precious from you though," Billy stated._

 _I pulled my guns and pointed them at Carlisle who had his gun pointed at Billy's head while Leah had her guns trained on the guys blocking the door and our way out._

 _We were all in a stand-off. All of us ready to take out the offender._

" _Alright, stop!" I shouted. "I'm not here for this! I need a favor, Billy!"_

 _We were all silence while we watched one another, wondering who would make the first move._

 _Finally, Billy smiled. "Fine," he said, lowering his gun and I lowered mine in good faith. Carlisle and Leah were reluctant to follow suit but they eventually lowered their weapons too. Edward sighed and shook his head, walking out. "Let's talk," Billy told me, inviting us to sit down and have a chat._

"I think he got close to Banner, or Banner got too close to him and Jasper lost it and beat Banner's ass in the shower," Leah informed me.

I chuckled and shook my head. "He's going to send me into labor!" I rubbed my protruding stomach feeling movement from his babies.

"It'll be any day now anyways," Leah said with a smile. "You look like you're about to pop."

"Ha ha," I said humorlessly. "Someday this will be you, you know, Mrs. Cullen…I mean Masen."

"Whatever, Mrs. Whitlock…I mean Hale," Leah said and caught herself, rolling her eyes. "I hate the new name shit so much! But yours isn't that much of a stretch."

"You mean 'Hale'?"

"Yeah." She smiled. "It's Jasper's nana's name so that's good."

I smiled. "It is."

Leah stayed with me for a while until Edward called her away. I teased them about going off to make my babies some company. Leah gave me the middle finger, but Edward just smiled. Yeah, he was going to charm his way into her panties.

I got out of bed. I was hungry. Which was every other minute. I walked out of the bedroom I hoped to share with Jasper and was about to head downstairs when I walked right into Carlisle who must have read my mind because he had food. I loved him at times like this. I couldn't even be mad at the hard look he gave me as he directed me back to bed.

"You're on bed rest," He reminded me.

"I know."

Carlisle shook his head. He knew arguing with me was futile. Instead, he chose to check my vitals and made sure everything was going okay. We were prepared for a home delivery, but if we had an emergency beyond Carlisle's ability, we would head to the hospital. But I hoped we would be okay.

When I bought this ranch compound all I had in mind was what life would be like here with Jasper and our family. We would be living in the 'big house' as Emmett liked to call it. It was a brazen purchase for someone in hiding, but I didn't care. It was bought with my money, some inheritance from Jamie, and money Jasper had set aside for me to have access to when I went into hiding. Carlisle helped me access it.

With it, I bought the compound for all of us under the name 'Hale'. The home Jasper and I would share was a five bedroom, five bathroom log cabin style home. There were three smaller homes on the property. Edward and Leah were in one. Carlisle had his home and medical practice, though he had no outside clients coming to him, he worked at the hospital in town. And the last home belonged to my sister and Emmett. Jake would stay with me whenever he visited. His home was in Forks, Washington. Like his dad, he wasn't going to leave there.

This was home. So I wanted my girls to be born here. I wanted to see them for the first time in this very room I was in. I had found myself bonding with them even though the prospect of being their mom scared me, I knew I would love and protect my girls to death. And if anyone tried to hurt them, I would stop at nothing to make them pay.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2: A Step Back**_

 _ **Bella, 2006, the day of the explosion…**_

I buttoned up my jacket. I didn't have a baby bump yet but I have started to feel insecure, like someone could tell that I was pregnant. I had to get out of here before they could anyways.

"Are we ready to go?" Rosie asked. She was asking for more reasons than one.

I looked at my sister and whatever my eyes shone with made her cross the room and pull me into a hug. "It'll be okay. It's gonna work, Honey Bee." She soothed. "He'll be okay."

"He's gonna be so pissed off at me!" I cried on her shoulder.

She laughed and I laughed with her amidst my tears. "Yeah, he probably will be."

We parted and got down to business after Rosie fixed my makeup. It was just a little foundation, powder and lip gloss because everything made my stomach turn and I didn't want to push it. I couldn't wear too much of anything because the scents were killing me.

How was I going to stand today?

I had to. That's how.

"Is everyone in position?" I asked as we stepped out of the room only to be met by Jake in the hall.

"We're ready," he said. "We're good to go!"

Missions excited Jake. And this one was going to blow his socks off. It was one of the biggest stunts he was about to pull. I wouldn't have done this with anyone but Jake. I trusted him and he was crazy about this shit so I knew he would get it right.

We walked out to the black GMC SUV and I took a deep breath before getting in. Jake was prepped and ready. Rosie was here to assist me. Charlie was on standby. Unfortunately we had to let Agent Collins know about our plans and he loved this stunt I was about to pull. He was willing to give me ample time to have my baby before getting to work.

He only had one condition. Jasper was to remain in the dark. Or I could forget about him all together after his sentencing. He said it was just a thought. I almost laughed in his face. But I held back. I would not forget the one I loved. I would not leave Jasper behind. He may be in the dark for his own good, but it wasn't always going to be like that.

I was about to make everyone believe what they were about to believe when I walked out that courtroom today. The ball was in my court. Not in Agent Demetri Collins' hand.

We drove to the court house. Jake pulled to a stop, precisely where he wanted the truck to be to execute his plan. Rosie and I got out and made our way across the street. Jake would be staying with the truck.

By the time I enter the courthouse it was already packed. But Rosie and I found a good spot. Somewhere almost directly behind Jasper but some ways away from him. A part of me wanted him to turn around and see me there and another side of me didn't. I just wanted to hear the verdict and then move on to next phase of my plan.

The judge entered the courtroom after the bailiff brought us to our feet with his boisterous voice, "All rise! Judge Chan presiding."

Jasper looked calm. He looked at ease. Siobhan had said she hated this. Hated to lose as she knew she was about to. But this was the way it had to go. For now at least.

The judge spoke and then he asked the jury of their decision. After the foreman spoke, I felt lightheaded. I leaned on Rosie because my knees were buckling. I was about to leave, having heard enough, when not only did Jasper see me, I saw Lauren Mallory approaching. She had a scowl on her face.

"What are _you_ doing here?" She sneered when she stopped in front of me.

I didn't answer her. I glanced in Jasper's direction and found him watching us intently. He had that look on his face. A look that said, "What the hell are you doing here? I'm gonna fucking…!" He would be screaming his ass at me if he could right now. I could see it in his eyes. He wanted me gone for my own safety and here I was standing in the same courtroom as him listening to shit he didn't want me to hear. Letting the assholes who thought the worst of me, like Lauren, feel that they could touch me.

I was doing everything Jasper was working so hard to prevent. But I wasn't doing it in vain. I hoped that he could understand that later on.

"I'm here to hear the verdict," I answered her.

"Oh!" She mused. "They are going to send your lover to prison forever!" She cackled. "How does it feel to know that you fucked him for nothing? Then again, you are poison! I heard your little sister was Alice Brandon and she was a nutcase as we all suspected. And then you betrayed the department for your gangster lover."

I wanted to hurt her. I wanted it so bad I could taste it so when I turned to walk away and she grabbed my arm, yanking me around to face her scrawny looking face, I almost fucking broke her neck right there in the courtroom.

"So how does it feel?" She taunted.

I was about to tell her ass exactly how it felt and then break every bone in her body, but Rosie stepped in. "How would it feel if I were to broke every bone in your whorin' body if you touched my sister one more time?"

Lauren huffed. She looked behind her for backup and found the few agents who had gathered around us were backing off as Rosie and I advanced on her. "You wouldn't dare," she said nervously.

"Wouldn't we?" Rosie challenged. "Bella is a gangster's whore and I don't give a fuck about you. So wouldn't we hurt you just for the fuck of it? Banner's not here to warn us off of you, bitch, so I'd watch who I was fucking with if I were you."

"You can't talk to me like that!" Lauren said like a spoiled brat.

Rosie got in her face and the murderous look in her eyes made me wonder if she was about to do something bad. And I wouldn't stop her. I'd have her back. "You should be getting' out of our way," Rosie said in a menacing tone. She shoved Lauren out of our path, sending her tumbling into another person and then took my hand and led me out of the room.

We were walking as fast as we could. There was a crowd gathering to see Jasper. Dad had found some way to arrange for him to be taken out the front door. We had to make sure we caused a spectacle and I had to make sure Jasper saw everything that was going to happen next.

As sick as it was it would convince the enemy more if they saw his pain.

I looked back once and saw the guards leading him out behind us. His eyes caught mine and I looked away.

"Is he coming?" Rosie asked.

"Yeah!"

We hurried along.

We made it outside and for a second, I paused. "Can I?" I asked Rosie. "Should I do this?"

She was decided for me. "We have to!"

Rosie pulled me along after it was safe to cross the streets. It was all planned. The lights were on red as soon as I stepped up to the truck thanks to a contact of Jake's that worked in the traffic department. My heart pounded as I watched Rosie get in. And it was my turn. I could have just gotten in the back, but I had to see him one more time. It wouldn't be the last, but I was going to miss him so much, I had to look.

He was looking right at me and I wanted to forget everything and run across the road and throw my arms around him. Tell him I would wait. It didn't matter. No of it and no one standing there staring at us, judging, none of it mattered. Only him.

Rosie's voice brought me back. "Isabella!" She only called me that when she was being serious about something and wanted my full attention. I got it. I had to do this.

I looked away and took a deep breath, getting in the back of the truck. We only had a few minutes. It had to look good. The bodies of a male and two females matching my sister and mine's body weight were already in here. Jake must have loaded them in when we were in the courthouse. He opened the panel in the floor like he had showed me and we sent Rosie down in the gutter first. And then it was my turn.

"Ready, Bells?" Jake asked.

"Ready!"

He carefully helped me down into the gutter. My dad caught me. I stood beside him and waited for Jake. Jake jumped down and then we were on the move, running as fast as we could away from the blast zone. We stopped some way off when Jake said it was time. He had a timer and said it was time so he pressed the button detonating the bomb he had planted in the truck. You could hear the boom from down here. We moved even further away though we were safe then we took off and we didn't stop running until we reached the rendezvous point.

Leah and Edward met Rosie and me there. Edward helped me out of the tunnel and for a second I held onto him like he was my last lifeline and I cried. I don't know why I did it, but Carlisle, who surprised me by being there, seemed to.

"Just hold her." He told his son.

Edward and I got in the back of a truck and I bawled my eyes out on his shoulder while we drove away. Far away from my heart. From Jasper.

The days that followed were hard. I didn't want to see anyone or hear anything. I hardly ate and only did so after Carlisle forced me to. I remain in whatever room we were staying at while we bounced from place to place and refused to come out. Everyone around me tried to reach me with words of advice and encouragement, but none the words they spoke mattered. They weren't him. There were words weren't coming out of his mouth.

I saw him a lot. Dreamt about him in my sleeping hours and worried about him while I was awake. I think I lost it a couple of times and came up with plans to go and get him. But someone would always be there to talk me out of it or threaten to tie me up if I tried anymore shit like that. Emmett had said that when I tried to escape into the night once. Emmett got so mad at me, a part of me was proud of him for voicing his concern and another side wanted to kick his ass for stopping me.

In the end, it was a tie between listening to Carlisle after weeks of him treating me indifferently and finding the perfect place for us to stay in Boulder, Colorado. The compound with the ranch style homes was exactly what I needed and to hear that Jasper had set money aside for any such ventures. I felt excited for the first time in a long while. I threw my all into purchasing the homes and we all worked together, Rosie and Emmett, Edward and Leah, Carlisle and I along with my dad and Jake, who would be visiting from time to time to make the place comfortable for us.

Mr. D found us. He came out one day walking around and pretending like everything myself and my family had done was all a part of his plan.

The snotty little bastard. I couldn't wait to be able to touch him. I was going to hurt him bad.

"I think you've done quite a good job, Mommy," He teased as he walked around my newly decorated living room. I had every input in how I wanted this house to look. It was going to be a welcome home present for Jasper.

"What do you want?"

"To tell you that as soon as you drop the kid, you're heading in to work," he said in a serious tone.

My heart skipped a beat. I would have to do whatever I could to delay that.

"You will be working with Cullen, as I told you," he said.

"You did."

He looked at me with a pregnant pause passing between us. I wanted him out of my house now! "Good!"

"Good," I hissed.

He laughed. "Oh lighten up, Isabella! Mind you give yourself a heart attack. We both know you hate me, but there is nothing you can do about it. I hold all the cards."

"That you do," I said in agreement.

He didn't. But I wasn't going to strike just yet. I had to wait for the right time and get Jasper out of his hands first because while in prison, Jasper was vulnerable and at Mr. D's mercy. I couldn't have that. If I were to act prematurely, things would end badly for Jasper. I had to be careful.

"So Hale, huh?" He questioned then commented. "I like the last name. Way to stay close to him."

We changed our names before arriving in Boulder. Our fake identities were intact. I was Isabella Hale, wife of Jasper Hale, business contractor. I had packed up the family and gone ahead and moved to Boulder, Colorado because my husband and I wanted a change from our lives in New York. That was my story. Edward and Leah Masen were my in-laws. Leah was as close as a sister could be to me seeing as she was raised as a sister to my husband after his family adopted her. Edward and Carlisle Masen were a father and son doctor duo. Emmett and Rosalie Carter were a newlywed couple. Emmett was my cousin and business partner to my husband, Jasper. While Rose was a fashion photographer and Jasper's cousin. I liked the switch between Rose and Emmett when I heard it. Rosie was okay with playing Jasper's relative instead of being my sister. I was okay with Emmett with being my cousin. My dad would remain my dad, Charlie, an ex-army guy who loved fishing and lived in Forks. And my best friend since childhood, Jake Black, who was a mechanic also from Forks, Washington.

"I don't need your insinuations," I told Demetri. "I'm not at work yet so you've got no reason to be here. Once we begin working together, then you can bother me all you want."

He scoffed at my reply but he also didn't look too pleased with my answer. "You know, Isabella, I can hurt him if I want to."

I felt troubled when he said that but I wouldn't show him any weakness. "Go ahead and see what becomes of our…partnership."

"You should be careful…Bella."

"So should you…Demetri."

We were enemies. Nothing would ever change that and one day, I would rid myself of him.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3: New Life**_

 _ **Jasper, January, 2007**_

Today felt off. It felt like I was missing something. Some major event. I didn't know what it was and it bugged me to think about what it could be that I'm missing. Nothing should be bothering me. I wasn't in solitary. I was in my cell, lying down staring up at the ceiling and wondering what I could be missing.

What was so damn special about today?

 _ **Bella, January, 2007**_

A sharp pain in my lower abdomen woke me up. I opened my eyes, seeing that it was still nighttime and grabbed up my stomach, rubbing it. Sometimes the babies woke me up with swift kicks to my bladder, but this felt worse. It was cramping and it wouldn't let up. I tried to breathe. I tried to relax myself and eventually it worked and the pain subsided. I breathed out in relief and lay back down.

I couldn't go back to sleep yet so I just laid there, rubbing my stomach and thinking.

I was having a good dream. Jasper was here and the twins were here. They were beautiful. My little girls. They looked so much like their daddy. Jasper was standing over their cribs, admiring them. Promising to love and protect them. I was so moved by his devotion.

It was a good dream.

I felt the pain again. This time it was worse than before. I gasped and hissed as I clutched my sides. I let go and moved to sit up in bed. I grabbed the clock and saw that it was 3 in the morning. Okay. Whatever this was, it was obvious that I needed help. Carlisle had warned me. No pain should go unchecked. I was almost ready to give birth so we had to be careful.

I reached for my phone and speed dialed his number.

Carlisle picked up on the third ring. "Yeah?" His voice was gruff and filled with sleep. And just as I was about to answer him, I felt like I had peed myself.

Oh shit.

It couldn't be. But I think it was.

"What is it?" Carlisle demanded.

"I think my water broke."

 _ **Jasper, January, 2007**_

I managed to fall back asleep by some miracle and there Bella was. We were back in my hospital room after I had gotten shot at the warehouse where Aro had escaped.

We were talking about fake identities and making plans about what we'd become if we could get away. Bella thought I would be a good businessman this time around. When we last pretended to be someone other than who we were, I had told her I wanted to work in Finance as an advisor and she wanted to be a nurse.

I guess she wanted to help save lives instead of taking them.

This time around, she thought I could be a contractor.

Not killing but a building contractor.

I liked the idea. It wasn't a real stretch for me. I could wrap my head around building houses. About creating something instead of tearing down.

" _I think it'll be good," she said with a smile._

" _Really?"_

" _Yeah!" She laughed. I loved seeing her happy with those little wheels turning in her head. "We could travel the world together."_

" _Wouldn't we settle somewhere?"_

 _Where would be the base of operations? She was pregnant with my kid too. So what traveling? I wanted my kid to have a home to settle down in. Live a neighborhood with kids they were friends around the block. I had that. Sure, the kids feared my dad, but I still had a good childhood. I wanted my baby to have that too._

 _I mean I wasn't opposed to traveling. I just believed in setting our root down somewhere. And then we could go explore the world as long as there was a home to come back home to._

" _Yeah," she said dreamily as she laid her head on my shoulder while curling up next to me in the hospital bed."I'm thinking Colorado or we could go to Canada."_

" _Yeah, I'd like that."_

" _You like everything I say," she said, slapping the good side of my stomach._

"' _Cause I love you, silly." I told her with ease. I felt so happy with her in my arms as we laid there talking about what could be our future._

 _Even if it probably wouldn't turn out the way we hoped, it was a nice dream._

" _I love you too," she whispered. "So much. I never thought…I never thought I could feel this way."_

" _But you do," I told her. "I know you love me. I can see it in your eyes. I can feel it when you touch me."_

 _She didn't answer right away. She ducked her head into my chest and for a while I thought she wasn't going to say anything until I heard her whisper in agreement, "I guess I do."_

 _I kissed the top of her head._

" _Jasper Hale."_ I thought as I opened my eyes. I liked the sound of the name and it wouldn't have stretch either. It was my nana's maiden name. I would have loved calling Bella, Mrs. Hale.

 _ **Bella, January, 2007**_

I groaned and banged my head against the pillows. The pain was coming fast and hard. I felt like something wanted to rip my insides out.

That was how Carlisle found me. Banging my head against my pillows with my eyes clamped shut.

Carlisle chuckled. "So what seems to be the problem?" he asked with a hint of laughter in his voice. I swore if I wasn't in so much pain, I'd reach for my gun.

I promptly gave him the middle finger while groaning in pain, making him laugh.

"Well, it seems like the girls want to join the party," he said.

"I love how calm you can be about it." I want to beat him up. Just so I could feel better. I think I would feel better if I was pounding his face in.

Yeah…that would definitely make me feel better.

I think Carlisle knew it too. When I opened my eyes to glare at him for sounding so calm, he said. "Stop thinking shit about me, Bella. Or else."

"Or else what?" My dumb ass had to challenge my doctor.

"I'll go back to bed," he said like it was nothing. "I was having a nice dream about a beautiful woman who was about to do dirty things to me before you rudely interrupted."

I wanted to hurt him because I think he meant that shit too. Carlisle and I had a like/hate relationship so I could see him leaving my ass and going back to bed.

Luckily for me though, Emmett and Edward stormed into the room.

"Holy shit!" Emmett exclaimed. "The babies are coming?!"

He was shouting so much I swore they were going to come out of him.

"Stop yelling!" Leah said when she walked in. Rosie wasn't here though she had promised to be, but this was sudden and I wasn't expecting her for another week.

The pain was subsiding and I reached for Leah's hand like she was my lifeline. She grabbed it and took into her own. Carlisle and Edward started preparing everything they would need. For a second, because I was scared shitless, I wanted to doubt that I was in labor. I voiced this, making Carlisle give me one of those 'you've got to be shittin' me' looks before he moved between my legs and checked before I could even object. Emmett spun around so fast not wanting to see my lady bits, I swore he was going fall flat on his face. Edward wasn't bothered. In fact, he was the one to tell us I was in labor while his dad grumbled about me trying his nerves.

I wanted to hurt Carlisle but I needed him too much right now.

"It's gonna be okay, Bella," Leah told me. "It's gonna be okay."

And when she said, I burst into tears because it wasn't.

Jasper wasn't here.

 _ **Jasper, January, 2007**_

The uneasy feeling was gonna follow me around today. Since I got up, I had this feeling. It was nagging and pissing me the fuck off. I felt angry then sad about some shit. Like I was missing something. Like I was forgetting some shit that was incredibly important to me.

Nobody could talk to me. The boys, Embry and Paul, wanted to know what was up, if there was someone they needed to take care of for bothering me. I gruffly told them no. I didn't mean to sound mean to them but whatever. Something was fucking with my mind and I just wanted to be alone. I needed to work this out. Figure out what it was I was supposed to be remembering. It wasn't any anniversaries of anything. I remembered all that shit. Like Mom's birthday and the day she died. Pop and Michael's death. Peter and Char's. The good guys that gave their lives for the Whitlocks like Simon. I had lost so much. And…Bella and our baby.

I had to grip my chest, doubling over in pain when I thought about her and the baby. The pain still felt so raw. And with it, came the immense feeling anger that seemed to overtake me. All I could think of doing was hurting someone. It was the only way I could alleviate the pain. I had to make 'em hurt the way I was hurting. It was the only way I'd feel better.

I slammed a fist into the wall and I didn't stop until a guard called to me. And then I found an outlet for my pain by beating the shit out of him.

 _ **Bella, January, 2007**_

"Aaahhh!"

"That's it, Bella! Push!" Carlisle screamed at me. "One more big push and you'll meet one of your little girls!"

Edward had advised going to hospital. He still didn't like the idea of the girls being born at home. He didn't want anything to go wrong. He was worried. But I was suspicious about his agitation. What was he planning?

Edward didn't like the idea of Jasper being in the dark. He looked at Jasper as the brother he didn't have and he didn't think it was fair Jasper didn't know I was alive. We had gotten away and Edward was making some good points when he and I spoken about it.

" _We could find some way to get word to him," he had insisted when he came to sit with me one day. Luckily, he came with lunch so I was very inclined to listen._

" _Why?"_

 _It was a great idea. I didn't want to seem too happy about someone finally being on my side and thought it was okay to let Jasper know we were all okay. So I was playing the passive type even though I was jumping up and down on the inside._

" _Because maybe he wouldn't get into so much shit if he had some hope, Bella."_

 _I shrugged. "Jasper is a very angry person. He will get into shit if anyone looks at him wrong." I thought that was good enough to throw him off my scent. I was too happy to hear him talking like this. It was taking all I had not to smile and hug him. "Besides, how would we even get word to him? We're under surveillance. Demetri is waiting on you and me to start working for him. Dad is watching us. Aro, that bastard, is still out there waiting to strike. How would we do it?"_

 _Edward sighed. He looked doubtful for a second while he tried to think of a way to let Jasper know we were alright._

 _His doubtful look almost made me feel doubtful and wished I hadn't opened my big mouth. Now I had probably talked him out of it. Emmett would be so proud of me. Carlisle would just laugh at how dumb I was acting. I think this pregnancy was affecting my common sense._

 _But Edward saved me with a name._

" _Siobhan."_

"That's it, Bella! One more!" Edward pushed while he held my hand. "You can do it. One big push!"

I did what I never normally do. I obeyed someone and pushed. And then Carlisle went silent, but then I heard it. My daughter's cry. Her strong little voice sounding through the bedroom making fresh tears spring from my eyes, before Edward and Leah congratulated me and Edward said, making me want to choke him. "One down, one to go."

Oh shit!

 _ **Jasper, February, 2007**_

After beating that guard to a pulp, I was put in solitary for however long. Which turned out to be a month. I went in there in January, the boys told me, and I didn't get out until now…February.

Shit! I was a bad motherfucker. I had to laugh to myself as I walked by the guards now. I felt like I was the most feared fucker here and I loved and hated it. I knew one day some fucker would challenge me and he'd probably win, but I didn't mind. I would get to be with Bella and our baby wherever they were.

But it wouldn't be today. Something weird was happening today. I was going to get a visit from my lawyer today. When the warden told me, I grew suspicious. Siobhan knew she couldn't do anything else for me. Why did she need to see me? Charles didn't know what she wanted. She just had a request of him. She wanted us to be completely alone during the visit. No interruptions until she was finished. No recordings either. All records of her visit would be released to her. Where I knew Siobhan would destroy it. But why did she want to see me?

Was that dumb bitch that worked with Bella, the idiot I choked, Lauren Mallory, suing me? If she was, I was going send some boys to teach her ass a fine lesson in fucking with me.

"What's up, man?" Charles asked, slapping me on the shoulder as I walked toward his office.

I shrugged. "I'm good." I told him. I was sure I have been a headache since I arrived at his prison late last year, but I was Jasper fucking Whitlock of the Whitlock gang, what did he expect? I was a bastard. And yeah, maybe one day some punk was going to silence me in here and but it wouldn't be today. I was still here and I was still going to cause problems because I was a motherfucker.

"Well, everything is ready for you and your lawyer as per her request," Charles told me. "Your visitors are waiting."

Visitors?

He stopped the guard from following me and nodded for me to continue into his office alone. Was he setting me up? A side of me actually welcomed it if he was. But when I walked in and saw Siobhan looking at me, I realized Charles wasn't setting me up.

I was about to closed the door behind me when it was closed for me and I turned around only to be staring into the two deep brown eyes I never thought I would stare into ever again in this lifetime.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4: New Hope**_

 _ **Jasper, February, 2007**_

How was it possible? The fact was, it couldn't be. I watched her die.

I staggered away from her in shock. She couldn't be here. She wasn't standing here right in front of me. I was fucking dreaming! I had to be.

I saw it. I saw her get in the truck and it blew up. Seeing that ripped a hole in my heart. But I knew it was true. She and our child were dead.

So Bella couldn't be here. I had to be imagining this.

She took a step forward and I took one back. She took another toward me and I backed up. I was scared, shocked, happy and angry at her. But I was mostly mad at myself for imagining something so cruel. Although if this was my imagination hard at work, then it was very detailed because Bella looked absolutely beautiful. She was glowing. Her hair was longer, just like it had been in the picture at that rendezvous spot for her and her family. The place where James had taken me. Maybe that was where I conjured this image of her from.

While I was stuck in my head trying to will myself to see that this woman standing in front of me was just a figment of my imagination, she spoke; her voice sounding smooth, velvety and a little scared. "I'm real, Jasper."

"No, you're not," I said to her. I could hear my own voice crack with anger and sadness. "I'm imagining this."

She looked at Siobhan and I flashed around and looked at her too suspiciously. If I was just imagining this, then why was Siobhan here?

"Are you real?" I asked Siobhan.

Siobhan sighed sadly answered me. "I am, and so is Bella."

No. I t couldn't be true. I flashed around, staring at the woman in front of me again.

It couldn't be her.

Then again, Siobhan knew better than to lie to me, much less, try and play such a stupid prank. I would…I would hurt her. I would hurt anyone who dared to do anything like that.

And then Bella, whether real or not, was talking. She was going so fast as she tried to explain why she was here. The more she spoke, the more I wanted to believe she was real.

"I wasn't going to be the one to come here," she said while I was trying to block her lovely voice out of my head. But she went on, unaware of my turmoil. "Edward was supposed to be the one to come here, not me, But…I had to see you." Her eyes were pleading with me to understand. "I had to see you."

"You're not real," my voice was cracking. I could feel the tears gathering in my eyes. "You're not fucking real."

"Jasper…" She whispered my name and something just exploded inside me.

I grabbed her by the throat, backing her up into the wall opposite us…hard. She let out a sound from the assault but she didn't stop me. She just held onto my hand while blankly staring into my eyes. I wanted to squeeze her neck tight but I just held her there while I began to berate her for this cruel act.

"I don't know who the fuck you are! But you're not her!" I screamed in her face. How dare she come in here and pretend to be Bella? "I loved her! We were going to have a baby and they killed her! They killed her!"

"I'm not dead, baby!" She yelled back at me. "I'm right here." She pleaded. "I'm here and you're trying to fucking kill me right now. It's me. It's me. I'm Bella, Jasper. It's me."

"No," I started to cry. My hand was losing its power. I found myself leaning on her for support. She held me tight. "It can't be." I cried to her. "You died."

She pushed my head away from her shoulder. She held my face willing me to stare into her deep brown eyes. "They can't kill us, baby. Not yet. We gotta win first. I just knew they'd be after me so I followed your advice and jump started some things. I just had to see you one last time, but it was dangerous and then it became a good opportunity. I know you'll hate me for hurting you, for not telling you, but I had to go and I had to protect you at the same time."

"Tell me you got away from Agent Collins?" God I wanted her to say yes, but I knew the answer. It was written all over her face.

"Not yet, but…" She tried to sound hopeful. "We will."

I was choosing to believe that she was real even though I was hurt that she had lied to me. That I had to mourn her and our baby while she had been alive this whole time. Wait…

"Bella?" I backed away from her and her flat stomach.

God. No.

"Bella, tell me." I started to panic. Did the baby die? "You're not pregnant anymore," I stated.

She chuckled nervously. "About that…"

"What happened?"

Siobhan cut in. "Bella, we're running low on the time here."

I snapped at Siobhan. "Shut it! I swear to God, if you stop her from talkin' you ain't walkin' outta here!"

Siobhan held her hands up in surrender and shut her mouth.

I turned back to Bella. "What happened?"

"It wasn't just one baby." She smiled and held her hands up to me for a second in surrender because I was still a little skittish around her and this was prison, who wasn't fucking cautious of everyone in here? You couldn't help that shit. I was jittery all the time. Living on the edge in here made feel ready for anything to happen at any time.

Bella seemed to be aware of this so she moved with caution around me. She motioned to her pocket to tell me she was going to reach for something. I nodded my consent and she reached into her back pocket and pulled a phone. She turned it on and skipped through it before handing it to me with a broad smile on her face. I looked at her and smiled, taking the cell phone while wondering what made her so happy. When I looked down at the screen there was a picture there and it damn near gave me a heart attack.

"They are two babies here," I said in disbelief.

Bella nodded with the smile still plastered on her face. "Yeah, we have twin girls."

In that moment, for some weird reason, I remembered my mom and a dream I had of her in a park.

Oh shit! The two little girls. Was this what my mama was showing me? I wasn't into the mystical shit, but damn if this wasn't a revelation.

"They…that…they are so beautiful!" I was smiling like a fool and gushing over my girls. I didn't have one kid. I had two.

"I'm glad you love them," Bella said with a chuckle. "Would love for you to come and help baby sit them." She laughed. "They're a handful."

"Anytime." I said absentmindedly.

I would do anything for them. I knew I would.

"Everybody loves them," Bella told me.

"Everybody?"

"Everybody," she confirmed. Good. What was left of my family and friends had gotten out and they were with Bella.

"How's Carlisle?" I joked with her. I knew they had to be at each other's throat.

"Very funny," She knitted her brows but smiled anyways. "He's been good. He delivered the girls with the help of Edward. Edward has been my right hand man through this little endeavor to get me in here. Not everyone is happy with it."

"I wouldn't be," I told her. "But knowing you're real and I'm not imagining this I'm too selfish to care." I looked at the pictures again. "What are their names?"

She smiled as she came to stand beside me. She touched the phone screen. There was a gentleness to her when she spoke about them. Something had changed in her. She was still a hard ass but there was a little extra something there too. Love. A special love for her children. I could see it. Bella would do anything to protect them.

As would I.

"They're Jamie-Lyn Tanya Rose and Michaela Leah Hale," Bella said with a hint of nervousness in her voice. "I know I used Michael's name without asking but…"

I cut her off with a kiss. "It's perfect. I love their names."

She smiled. "I figured we could honor the great women that have been in our lives."

I kissed her again because I had to. Both for the softness of her lips and to know I was really standing here with Bella. This wasn't a dream.

"Bella, why did you come here?"

I should have asked this from the beginning.

She smirked. "Why do you think?" She kissed me again, fierce and hard on the lips before whispering against my mouth. "Its time to go, baby. I'm here to bust you out."


	5. Chapter 5

_**Chapter Five: Right Decision?**_

 _ **Bella, February, 2007**_

Carlisle found me in the nursery. Jamie-Lyn was asleep and Michaela had just followed her into dream land. I smiled at my girls before stifling a yawn. I would finally be able get a little nap before I moved on to something else. I wanted to go and find Edward so we could work on our plan of getting him into the prison to see Jasper, but I needed to close my eyes for a few minutes.

Carlisle wasn't going to allow that. He was here to disrupt my plans. I could see it from the scowl on his face. I placed a finger over my lips, signaling him to be quiet. I walked by him,, tiptoeing out of the girls' room. He followed me as I walked to my bedroom. I knew why he was here. He was here to riddle me with doubt about my plan to get Jasper out of prison.

"Carlisle, couldn't you go away and come back and annoy me in about ten minutes or so?" I asked.

He smiled. "Being a new parent is time consuming, I know," he said. "Which is why I'm here to ask if you're sure about this?" This was the millionth time since he became of aware of my plans that he was asking that.

"Yes," I answered with a sigh of annoyance, rolling my eyes as I made my way to the bed. I threw myself down across it and closed my eyes with a sigh of relief.

"I think it's a crazy, dumb idea."

"I think you should go fuck yourself." I retorted.

"I think you're gonna screw the fucking pooch for us if you do this," Carlisle countered. I felt the bed dip and opened my eyes to see him taking a seat on the edge of it. I was tempted to kick him off. "Don't fucking think about kicking me either."

I scoffed, slightly pissed at being caught thinking something I really wanted to do. "Who's thinking that?" I lied.

"You," Carlisle said with a chuckle. "Seriously though, I don't think this is a good thing. I know Jasper." I moved to say something and Carlisle shut me down. "And before you argue, yes I want him out here with us too. But at what cost, Bella? My nephew told you to run. Going back for him now is disobeying him. Not to mention the fact that he thinks you're dead. Imagine how fucked his mind is gonna be when he sees you…"

How the hell did he know? I hadn't said anything to Edward about really wanting to be the one to head into that prison with Siobhan. I would be in disguise to get through surveillance, but I would let Jasper see the real me. I hadn't said anything to anyone so how did Carlisle know?

"Get that dumb look off your face," he said. "It doesn't suit you."

I confessed. "How did you know?"

He smiled ruefully, which just made him look evil. "From the moment I heard the plan I knew you would be going in there instead of my son. You can fool them, Bella. But you love my nephew too much to try and fool me. And if you don't stop to think about some of this shit before you do them, then you're going to really end up dead. Mr. Demetri 'asshole' Collins isn't messin' around with you. He's out for power and he sees you as a key to that. He's obsessed with you right now. You're about to become his favorite toy if he doesn't already consider you as such."

Carlisle was right about Collins. I got the same inkling from the bastard. He was going to mess with my life and the fact that he's heavily responsible for my freedom, he felt that he had a major say in my life. Maybe he thought he even controlled the fact that I was breathing right now.

"You're right," I resigned to Carlisle about Mr. D. "He's egotistical. I can see it."

Carlisle nodded in agreement. "So watch your fucking step, Swan. I think Collins thinks he's allowing a lot because he wants you as his little terminator. And I hate that my boy is along for the ride."

"Don't judge me, Cullen!" I snapped. How dare he tried and put Edward's need for safety on me. "Edward was in just as much danger with you being a cleaner and working for the CIA on the side while he snitched for Jasper from within the FBI. Don't point fingers at me!"

I got off the bed and started to pace the floor. Carlisle sat there for a minute and then burst out in laughter. "I like you, Swan! For some strange reason I really don't get it or like it, but I like you, kid. I'm gonna trust you with this little plan of yours for Jasper. I don't trust you with Edward and once you two start working together, I'll be watching very closely."

He was threatening me.

I wasn't about to show him an ounce of fear because if it were my girls I would be feeling the exact same protective Carlisle was feeling now for his kid. I still wanted to punch him though.

"Don't push your luck with me, Carlisle." I practically growled at him. "I'm not gonna promise you shit because you know how dirty things can get out there but I'll watch his ass."

It was strange and sometimes unsettling for me, but Carlisle and I understood each other. We argued, we bucked heads and had come close to blows, more than once, but we got one another. Being a parent for example, he was experienced, having raised Edward by himself, and while I was new to parenting I had the over protectiveness thing down. Anyone who dared to come close to my girls in a threatening manner would have the hell I unleash on their asses to deal with.

I continued to pace my room even after Carlisle left. I could forget sleeping. I had too much to think about now. If my plan was going to work, I would have to go over everything with a fine tooth comb. There could be no room for mistakes or it blow up in my face. I couldn't have that.

One of the girls started to cry over the baby monitor and I walked out of my room, heading to theirs.

 **~~LB~~**

As I sat in the truck waiting for Edward, I thought back to the argument I had with my dad. My disguise was in place. I would be acting as Siobhan's assistant in my short brunette wig, green contacts and large black rimmed glasses in place. I was dressed in my best secretary blue navy pant suit and was ready to play my part.

Edward would be driving me while Jake would be escorting Siobhan to our meeting spot. I would take over from there, driving Siobhan to the prison while Edward and Jake tailed us. Both of the guys were here as bodyguards and for surveillance. Edward was focused on finding a way inside and out without causing too much damage or attracting attention while Jake wanted to go big and cause an all out riot and we work our way through the chaos. I liked both ideas and wanted to combine them.

Everyone knew the plan. Carlisle was being a bitch about it but he was ready. Leah wanted it to happen. She didn't want Jasper in there for another year. Emmett was cool with it as was Edward. Rosie wanted me to watch out for Agent Collins. She was right. He would fuck things up for me if he knew about this.

My oddball out was my dad and I wouldn't have been too pissed at him if he had just gone about it another way.

Yes, Charlie thought it was too risky, but he was also sure that nothing would work out for me. He didn't even bother to just be my dad and lie his ass and say "Good idea, Honey Bee. It might work."

No. He was just adamant against everything I was thinking. At first I thought he was saying it out of concern for my girls. I thought it was a parent warning another. I was wrong.

My dad hated us. He hated my kids and their father with a passion and I didn't know how much until I had everyone gathered at the main house on the compound for dinner one night some days ago.

Things had been off since he walked through the door. He was rude to everyone. Grumpy and pissed off about something. I asked Rosie but Emmett butt in and told me to keep my distance from my dad.

What was going on? I was actually happy to see him. What was Emmett talking about? No matter what my dad was going through, he never alienated me or my siblings.

Emmett told me he overheard an argument between Rose and my dad some days ago. And things have been tense since I had the girls.

This was news to me. Rosie never said anything when we spoke. I voiced this to Emmett and he said she was just protecting me. "What did they argue about?"

"Mostly about you," Emmett said. "Just stick to Rosie, Bella…please." He begged with a kiss to my forehead before walking away.

Emmett worked overseas with Rosie. He was recruited by MI6 for his computer and hacking skills. MI6 was an agency equivalent to the CIA. They were based in London and Rosie acted as Emmett's his bodyguard in a sense. I was happy to see him. He was glad to see me and the girls as well as his family.

I should have listened to Emmett.

I approached my dad and he brushed me off like he wasn't standing in my house. Like I was some fucking stranger who bothering him.

Confronting him about it only made us almost come to blows. The argument was intense and my dad had no problem telling me what he thought about me. He even went as far as to throw a little truth in my face about something I had actually kept buried in me since I watched Jasper bury his father and his brother.

"You blame yourself for it!" Dad yelled.

Everyone was looking at me. I felt embarrassed because it was true. He was putting me on the spot. Purposely hurting me and I wanted to know why.

Although I was being stupid. Rosie had warned me to stay away. Emmett had warned me to keep my distance. Rosie didn't give me any specifics. She just told me to avoid Dad for a bit. And even Emmett told me something was wrong, but I didn't listen.

With all the screaming going on downstairs, I was glad the girls were asleep, upstairs in their room. Rosie and I had just put the girls down for a nap.

Anyway, I was being stubborn. I should have seen it as clear as day when my dad barely embraced the girls when he, Rosie and Emmett arrived earlier. He merely looked at them, crushing me on the spot while even Carlisle who hated my guts treated the girls like little angels. Charlie even looked at them scornfully once. I pretended like I didn't see it.

That couldn't be my dad. He wouldn't scorn my kids because he hated their father. Would he? Did he hate Jasper that much?

I thought…I mean after all that happening. How Jasper helped bring down his own empire for us, for Jamie and how he tried to save his brother, I thought my dad saw more to him than him being Jasper Whitlock, head of a crime family and an arms dealer.

I saw him as more than that and that was even before I fell for him.

What was going on? I tried to ask my sister, but she wasn't forthcoming with answers. She kept telling me or reassuring me that Dad just needed space.

But from what?

What was fucking with his mind so much he was acting like an asshole? Was it someone at the CIA? Was it Mr. D? Was that bastard taunting my father?

I asked Rosie.

"He's going through some things, I think." She told me and walked off as if she couldn't stand her heel.

Rosie had been evasive and was lying to me. Charlie must have said something and by the end of the night I would find out what it was.

Imagine my surprise when my dad told me that I blamed myself for Whitlock Sr. and Michael's death. It wasn't even the words but the look of scorn on his face that did me in. I exploded on him. And it only got worse when Carlisle stood between us, begging us to cool it and my dad snapped at him, calling him a criminal. That fueled my fury.

"What's your problem?" I asked with rage building inside me. If he wasn't my dad, I swear to God.

"I…" He started.

"Don't lie to me!" I exploded. "What's the problem? You come in here. You act high and mighty. You don't even want to touch your grandkids!"

He flinched when I called the girls his grandkids. "Did you just fucking flinch when I called my daughters your grandkids?"

Leah scoffed and stomped off. Edward ran a hand through his hair and followed her outside but not before I saw the deadly scowl on his face as he looked at my dad.

"Great." Charlie laughed. "You got the criminals acting up against me!"

I was taken aback. Even Rosie looked shocked. Emmett looked angry and uncomfortable but he wasn't leaving.

Fine.

If my dad wanted a fight, then I would give him one. "You don't get to point fingers at me, Charlie! I love my babies. I don't regret them!" I was ready for his ass as much as it was going to hurt me. "I'm sure you must regret some things though, right?"

He laughed unaware of where I was going with this. "Yeah, I regret my youngest daughter falling for a punk criminal! I regret her being dumb enough to get caught up in his world and had to leave her life behind for his bullshit! Now she's living like some gangster's whore off of his money! I suppose the one good thing is that he is in prison! But no, you want to change that, don't you, Bella?!"

Rosie was screaming the entire time for him to stop but I was glad he didn't. At least I got to know what he was thinking.

It took everything in me to remain calm enough to say this to him without knocking his lights out. "You're forgetting one important thing, Agent Swan?" I said with scorn.

Rosie was staring at me in disbelief that I was now addressing Dad in a way I never have while Carlisle had a satisfying look on his face. He looked entertained and eager to see where this was going to go.

"What's that?" Charlie sneered. "Is there something else you want to embarrass me with?"

"Before I tell you let me say this…I'm my own person, Charlie. I was taught that love can occur anytime and anywhere with anyone. As dumb as it may make me seem, it's what I feel. It's mine! And I will go to the end of the Earth for it." I smirked evilly at him. He looked taken aback by my expression. I went on, "I will do whatever it takes for it, Charlie Swan! I will kill, lie and steal to protect it! That's the way I'm learning to love my family."

He stood in stunned silence as I continued, "Jamie, my brother, the guy who acted more like the father I never had in you, he taught me that. He told me to love with everything in me and not to be afraid to no matter who might try to make me feel like shit for it. I'm not a toy, Charlie. I'm a fucking person…with feelings!" I yelled. "And if that bitch of a sister of mine, Alice, and Aro and his whores Renee and Jane hadn't caused my brother's death, he would be here!"

He opened his mouth to speak but I wasn't having it. "Shut the hell up!' I shouted. "You're gonna listen." I took a deep breath and warded off the tears threatening to fall. "Now you say, I'm being a dumb bitch because I gave up your perfect outlook for my life for a gangster. Are you forgetting something, Charlie Swan? I'm a gangster's kid." I watched the blood drain from my father's face but I was determined to hurt him back. "In fact, I'm Jasper's rival's kid. I'm a Volturi." I could see that I shocked everyone by admitting the worst truth about myself. My heart bled to say it and I felt like bursting into tears but I would not show him any weakness. "I'm not leaving anything behind. Charlie. I'm home. Now get out of my house and don't come back until you have some sense."

I said nothing else to anyone. I went up to my daughters' room and I stayed there, crying myself to sleep on their carpeted floor. And when their cries woke me up, I saw Leah standing over me. She helped me up to my feet and assisted me with the babies.

"Don't worry," she said to me. "You're family, Bella and we've got you. You hear me, sis? I got your back."

I cried on her shoulder while holding Michaela.

"Are we ready?" Edward asked, his voice pulling me from my thoughts as he climbed into the driver's seat.

"Ready."


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter Six: Meet me soon**_

 _ **Jasper, February, 2007**_

I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. I was in fucking prison! There was no reason to be walking out of the warden's office with a big smile on my face and I should be thinking about playing it safe by continuing to be pissed off at everything and everyone. I was trying, but failing to keep the smile off my face. I mean, I did piss her off in the end, but fuck that, I was so happy I couldn't contain it.

Bella was alive and I was a father. I didn't lose them. They weren't gone as I had initially thought. They were alive and safe. And it hadn't been one baby, but two of them. I had twin girls who didn't die in an explosion with their mother. It was all a setup. A show Bella had put on for our enemies. They needed to see it and think she was gone so we could keep the assholes off her back while my family and my love disappeared for a while.

We still had a long, hard road to go, but for now, everyone who made it out alive was safe and healthy.

There were still a few hiccups to handle. People like Agent Collin, Aro and Bella's mother were still around. I knew Aro. I wouldn't have to deal with him yet. And he will definitely want a face-to-face when he decided to take me out. I wasn't sure about Bella's mom. I knew about her obsessive nature and the fact that she would do anything for Aro was evident from her helping him to escape. There could also be more assholes waiting in the wind to take on the surviving Whitlock, but I would take them all out. I was going to make things as safe as I could for my girls.

And the fact was, I was too happy to care about anything else right now. None of those motherfuckers made a difference to me. I wasn't scared of any of them. What mattered was my girls' name which I asked and I loved their names. Bella had honored those who meant a lot to us with our daughters' names.

" _They're Jamie-Lyn Tanya Rose and Michaela Leah Hale."_

She had been nervous about using Michael's name without asking me but I didn't mind. I loved that she did. When she tried to explain, I cut her off with a kiss and told her so. _"It's perfect. I love their names."_

It was such a good idea to add Leah too. She meant a lot to me. Not only was she a good protector, she was like a sister to me. I hope she was protecting Bella the she would protect me.

I knew she was. I didn't have to doubt it. I knew Leah.

Then Bella had to shock me with why she came to the prison in the first place. And that was where we disagreed.

It turned out she wasn't only there to see me. To let me know she was alive. She was here to tell me she fully intended on breaking me out of prison. The plan sounded so extreme, I had to laugh. I wanted to take her seriously. I really did. But I didn't want to get her in trouble. She had a good thing going and I didn't want her to mess it up for me.

" _Bella," I chuckled. "I wanted you to get out for a reason. I don't want you worrying about me. I can take care of myself."_

 _The smiled disappeared off her face. "I'm serious," she said crossly._

 _Damn. She was mad at me. And fuck if I didn't love it. A part of me wished Siobhan wasn't here so I could take Bella up against the wall behind her. I loved a pissed off Bella. She was a hellion in bed._

" _Stop thinking about whatever you're thinking about," she warned me and I smirked. "It's not going to happen, Whitlock!"_

" _Siobhan could just walk out and give us a few…no, about an hour or two." I advanced on her and she backed up, placing a hand on my chest stopping me. I lifted her curled fist to my lips and kissed her white knuckles._

" _Jasper, I'm not fucking around!" Bella hissed at me._

" _Then don't use such literal language, babe, 'cause I do wanna fuck you." I told her. "I'm thinking about doing it up against that wall behind you."_

 _Her eyes widened a little before she relaxed them and smirked at me. "Keep dreamin', Whitlock."_

" _You too, Swan," I countered. "This is a maximum security Federal prison. This is no joke. Security is tight around here. I love you babe, but I doubt you can do this."_

" _I know I can," she retorted._

 _I was humoring her but Bella was taking things too far. It was making me grow serious at her ridiculous idea. "Bella, it's not gonna work! I'm here for the next whenever the fucks feel like letting me go which would probably be never! I don't want false hope. I want you and the girls to live on and stay safe. I want you to focus on finding some way out from under Agent Collins' thumb. You and Edward! I don't want you out there worrying about me and coming up with foolhardy plans that might get you hurt!"_

 _She looked hurt. "Are you telling me to not waste my time, Jasper?" She looked ready to cry. Her brown eyes were glistening with unshed tears. "You don't know what I've been going through to get to this moment, just for you to throw it back in my face!"_

" _What happened?" I was worried. Was it Agent Collins? I asked her and she didn't deny he was a part of her problem but he wasn't the only one._

" _Fine. You want me to back off and forget about it then I will." She was shutting herself down. "I'll just focus on the girls and getting ready to work for Collins."_

" _Bella…"_

" _I'll be fine." She was closing herself off from me. "I will continue to keep your family safe. I will protect the girls no matter what. Trust me. I know exactly what I am doing."_

 _She was gone. The happiness had been sucked out of the moment when I opened my fat mouth and refused her offer of freedom. Who was I to say Bella couldn't pull it off? Since I had met her, I have watched do the impossible and she was damn god at it. When she wanted something, nothing could stand in her way. I just thought it would be better if she focused that energy on our girls' well being instead of wasting it on me. But it seemed like she had the capacity to do it all. And she put her mind to it._

 _I was the one being a coward and pussying out._

 _But I had no time to tell her that I was changing my mind. Bella had shut down on me. What was once a nervous yet happy woman standing in front of me had been replaced by a coldhearted soldier who was ready to abort whatever mission this was._

 _I knew I had lost her when she walked around me and headed over to Siobhan who was giving me a 'What the fuck were you thinking?' look as Bella took what must be her disguise from Siobhan and put them on. Her long hair was covered under a short brunette wig and her brown eyes were covered by green contact lens and large black rimmed glasses. She came over to me and with a final short, hard kiss on my lips she took the phone away with my daughters' pictures and placed it in her pocket._

" _Goodbye, Jasper," was all she said before walking out the door._

 _I turned to Siobhan. "I fucked up."_

" _Big time," she replied without remorse._

 _Bella had to realize. She had to see it wouldn't be easy for me. I was reeling from everything that had happened. She had to know I was so fucked up. She had put me through hell. I thought they were dead and I wanted to die with them and now I know they are alive, I wanted to keep them that way. But I loved her too. And I wanted to be with her too. Was she wrong for wanting me out there with them? No. I wanted it too. So bad. I guess I was just scared. Yeah, a fucker like me could get scared, and I was. I loved them so much. I loved my daughters and I hadn't even met them. And I didn't want my presence to fuck up their little lives._

 _So I was choosing to rot in here for them._

 _But Bella didn't want that. And she wasn't going to allow that._

 _I hadn't thrown her off. I knew it. I just hurt her feelings. She was going to do what she said she would. I had come to learn that my girl was a woman of her word. She was going to get me out of here. I just didn't know when or how she would do it._

 _As for now, a barge of emotions was left in me to contend with. I was feeling everything. I was sad, anger and happy. I was glad Bella was alive but pissed at the same time._

 _Siobhan's voice took me out of my thoughts. "From what I've gathered, Bella is or was working on a big way to get you out and away from here without having the law hunting you down and dragging you back. Not even I could do that. That girl really loves you. I heard she and her father are at odds over you. He hates you and the kids apparently. Thinks you all fucked up his daughter's life. Sees her as nothing but your whore." Siobhan scoffed. "Whatever with him anyways. I know Leah and the others are watching out for her and the babies. They're beautiful, by the way."_

 _Siobhan left after that and I sat on the edge of the warden's desk until he came back and said my lawyer was gone._

I could finally wipe the smile off my face when I thought about how betrayed Bella looked when I told her to stop what she was doing regarding me. I stayed in my cell for the rest of the day. My boys brought me something to eat. It was a little odd how they were acting. Embry seemed to know who had visited me and Paul knew what it was about.

Oh shit.

"You work for…" I started and Paul clapped a hand over my mouth. My eyes widened wildly at him for the move and he quickly withdrew his hand.

"We gotta make sure you make it out here in one piece whenever you feel like leavin'," he said. "I was kinda hopin'…" He looked nervous and I finished for him.

"I would go for whatever my crazy babies' mother wants so you two can go home and get knee deep in pussy."

They nodded and I chuckled as they went on with Embry saying, "It's a good opportunity. You'd get some time with your family before you might have to go in hiding and shit." He looked nervous to look me in the eyes when he spoke so he kept looking down at his shoes.

"Not a bad idea," I said to them. "Just one problem."

"What's that?"

"Banner is still alive," I said with a smile. Both guys perked up because they knew how much I hated Banner. They didn't care why. They just knew he was an enemy and that was enough reason to get rid of him.

Saying it like that was acknowledging that I intended to go along with whatever Bella had planned and they would be included. It was their deal. I could only hope she knew what she was doing.

Fuck! The things I would do for that woman.

Now getting to Banner wasn't an easy task. He had aligned himself with some heavy protection from the Brotherhood and a few guards. However, I wasn't scared and I had no problem laying his ass out anywhere. From in the yard to the fucking cafeteria, every time I saw the bastard walking around, it made my blood boil. I hated the son of a bitch with a passion. And I was going to wipe him off the face of the Earth before I got out of here.

Yeah, I was banking on whatever Bella was working on to work. I wanted out. I had shit to do. I couldn't do them from in here. I needed to be out there with or at least around my family somehow.

And I was going to be.

I came in here because I thought I had to pay my penitence from in here; to serve my dues for the all the bad shit I had done, but fuck it. I had a life, no, lives to protect and I was going to do that the only way I knew how. By destroying whoever dared to come after my family. Pop and Michael, Peter and Char, even my mom, most of who meant the world to me were gone, but I still had a few left like Carlisle and Edward, my friends and more importantly, Bella and our babies. I couldn't give in yet. There was way too much at stake and I would be an asshole to sit aside and watch Bella do it all by herself. I wasn't some punk. I was Jasper fucking Whitlock.

"Want us to get rid of him for you?" Paul asked. He wasn't nervous now. His voice was steady as he seemed ready to carry out any order I gave him at a moment's notice.

"No." I told them. "I got it. I want to do it myself."

They nodded in agreement. "But we've got your back, Boss, 'cause it won't be easy."

It wasn't. I don't know why but over the few weeks, Banner was well guarded even more than he usually was. And it was especially heavy when I was around.

Whenever I stepped into an area where he was, he would suddenly be surrounded by members of the Brotherhood and there were always more than one prison guard watching his back when his boys weren't around. He would throw me these taunting looks like he thought I was afraid of what I saw.

I wasn't and I proved it by smirking at him or blowing kisses his way, leaving him looking unnerved by my actions.

The weasel was scared of me. And I liked it. No one was going to save him from me.

Sometimes when we spotted each other, he would falter in movement and tremble by the mere sight of me. I was going to get him and I wanted him to know that. So I made sure he saw me almost everywhere he went. I wanted it to feel like the place was closing in on him and it was just him and me in here.

I haven't heard from Bella or Siobhan since their visit. The warden hadn't gotten any more requests for visits. Maybe Bella had changed her mind and I was going to have to bust out on my own. I was connected. I could make it happen. I could bust out of this place and take Embry and Paul along with me for the ride if she wasn't going to bother going through with her plan. I was too much of a dick to her when suggested it. So she had finally decided to listen to me and back off.

Shit! I gotta quit with the sob talking, I was making myself depressed. I got to focus on spending my days stalking Banner, freaking the bastard out before I strike. There was always night time where I could spend it thinking about Bella and what we would do when and if I got my hands on her body. The sounds I wanted to hear her make. The things I wanted us to do. The image of her naked and riding me sent me into frenzy at night until I found release by my own hand wishing it was the warmth of Bella my cock was sinking in.

I sat in the yard today, watching Banner and his boys gather around him like a bunch of bitches and I smiled at the slime ball when he looked at me. A prison guard called me, "Whitlock!"

"What?" I answered gruffly, pissed at being disturbed.

The guard swallowed hard before he spoke, "Umm…you…you gotta a visitor."

 _Bella._

I wanted to spring up and run toward wherever she was but I kept my cool and walked over to the guard. Two of my guys, Embry and Paul, flanked me.

"Hey!" The guard shouted at them. "Get back!"

We all looked at him like he had lost his mind. I answered calmly, "They go where I go."

He shut up and turned around and walked us toward the visitation area. We were meeting her in here? Not the warden's office? I guess she was going to stay in disguise then. At least I would get to see her. I sounded like a pussy in my head. I had to roll my eyes at my own damn self.

My hopes were dashed when I stepped into the area and saw them standing there. It was a good thing Embry and Paul came with me because as soon as I saw Charlie Swan I was on the attack. Embry and Paul had to pull me back when I rushed him and grabbed his throat, choking him.

"You fuck!" I shouted. I wouldn't say anything incriminating to him about Bella but seeing as he was here with Agent Collins, what had he already said to the fucker? "You pretended to be on our side and you sold her out for this shit!" I continued to shout, nodded toward a laughing Agent Collins.

"Watch what you say about me, boy." Collins warned me.

"Go fuck yourself!" I growled in Collins' direction, making him laugh some more.

Charlie grabbed up my collar too. "Get your hands off of me!"

I kicked him in the balls and he went down, falling to his knees. "Stay away from them!" I growled, towering over him. "You don't know me and what the fuck I'll do to you. Don't mess with them!" I warned them as he got back to his feet.

"As fun as all of this is," Agent Collins said. "Let's get down to business. First, get rid of your dogs, Whitlock."

I was breathing heavily and focused on Charlie as much as he was watching me. But I heard Collins. "If you don't, I'll shoot them and say they were trying to escape." He took his gun and the guard was stunned that he still had his weapon.

"Hey! We checked you," the baffled guard commented.

"Yes, but you're too stupid to be able to disarm me," Collins boasted. "Hence, I still have my gun." He was talking to the poor idiot like he was an imbecile. I wasn't sorry for the guard but damn…

He pointed the weapon at Embry and Paul. "Make them leave, Whitlock. Or I will put a bullet each between their eyes."

I knew he wasn't joking. The cold look on his face mirrored the one I would give my enemies before I killed them.

"Wait for me," I told Embry and Paul.

"Are you sure?" Paul asked, concerned.

"I'm sure."

As soon as Embry and Paul were out of sight, Charlie clocked me in the jaw and I hit him back. Collins laughed. Charlie tackled me and we fell to the ground, throwing punches in each other's faces. It was fun for Collins. He couldn't stop laughing.

"You're what's wrong with her!" Charlie cursed me when he got an upper hand. The old guy was strong and his fist felt like lead as it slammed into my jaw. "You're what happened to her! Now she's nothing but your whore! She ruined herself for you!"

I took his rant as an opportunity to punch the old fool in the fucking mouth, shutting his ass up. "She's the best thing that ever happened to me and if you think I'm gonna stand aside and let you hurt her anymore, you've got another thing coming, Swan! I'd sooner see your grave than have you hurt her anymore!"

"Yes!" Collins shouted. "That's what I wanted to hear!"

When I heard that, it momentarily stunned me causing Charlie to get the upper hand before I retook the power and knocked him on his ass.

I heard a gun click, the trigger to be specific, while Collins was telling me to back off. "I didn't come here to watch you and Charlie fight over dear, sweet and deadly Isabella," he said. "I came here because I have a proposition for you, Mr. Whitlock. A way for you to see your kids. To be with Bella, well, at least for a short while because I will be keeping her very busy…" He smirked and I wanted to rip his tongue out for talking about Bella. He was lusting after what was mine. I could see it on in the bastard's eyes. "I can see you plotting, Whitlock, but don't hurt yourself by thinking too much. You can't touch me, punk. But I can touch everything that belongs to you. I own you." He practically growled at me.

I laughed. "You own me?"

"Yes," he said with conviction. "I own everything that matters to you, asshole, and I can take it all away if you dare to tell me no." He paused and then with a demented smile on his face, he said, "So! I'll get you out of here. I'll even throw in your little doggies, Embry and Paul, as a favor to Charlie. Bella has a plan but I think mine will be better. You will _both_ work for me until I say when to stop. God! This is such a good plan, I love it. Don't you?" I couldn't believe what the dick was saying. "You and Bella will be on my team. Bella, of course, will be my little killing machine," he whispered. "And you…you'll be my contact into the criminal world."

"You want me to work for you?" My anger was at its peak and I was ready to kill this asshole.

"I think you should save some of that rage I see in those eyes for later, Whitlock." He told me. "You're going to need it to survive what comes next."

What did he mean? I didn't get a chance to ask because Collins and Charlie Swan left soon after that. Collins said he was leaving me to think about it. Not for too long though. I had to make a decision soon. Collins said a bunch of other things too but I tuned him out. His voice was grating my brain.

Embry and Paul followed me back to my cell where I threw myself down on my hard bed. They wanted me to talk but I wasn't willing to. I wanted to snap at them, but for some reason, I didn't. I just told them to be ready for anything. They didn't want to, but I made them leave me alone. I needed some pace to think. Collins wanted me to work for him. Charlie knew about it and was probably hoping I would accept so I could go out there and die. Bella didn't know about his offer. I could tell. Whatever she was doing, I knew she wouldn't include Collins. She hated him too much.

This had her dad's stink all over it. Charlie probably learned of Bella's plan because she trusted him and he betrayed her by siding with Collins. Charlie hated me too much to see straight. I could see it. Even earlier when we were fighting, I realized this wasn't about me and Bella. This was about history repeating itself for him. He loved Bella's mom while she was devoted to Aro. He felt defeated, but he had no right to lay that blame at Bella's or my feet.

So he wanted to hate me? Fine I'd hate him right back. Fuck him!

I must have dozed off because the next thing I heard was a loud bang. My eyes popped open and I sprang up in my bed from the sound of something exploding. There was screaming outside my cell and when I jumped up and looked out from behind the bars, it was fucking chaos.

Guys were running by, fighting and shouting. A prison guard was suddenly in my face being pinned against the bars of my cell. There two guys in front of him and me and they cut his throat, his blood spraying in my face.

"What the fuck?!"

The guard's body fell to the ground. Then the two bloodied assholes were staring at me like I was meat and they were hungry.

"He's all alone," The big one said and the next guy smiled leeringly at me while others ran passed them.

What the hell was going on? Did I go to sleep and wake up in a fucking riot? How did this happen?

They moved the guard's body out of the way and opened my cell door. I backed up. I had a shiv under my pillow and I wanted to get to it. Whatever they had planned wasn't going to happen.

The big one made his move and I moved as fast as I could to get away from him. The smaller one tried to block my path but I evaded him too, making the big one make a mistake and stab the smaller one with his shiv.

The big one got mad and grabbed after me. The small space in my cell didn't give me much room to work with and he caught me, picking me up off the ground by the throat.

"You piece of shit!" He shouted angrily at me before hitting me. His fist was like a hammer but I wasn't down and out. I had the dead one's shiv so I used it, stabbing the big bastard with all I had and I didn't stop until he was dead on the floor.

I had to get out of here. I grabbed the big guy's shiv and mine and ran out of my cell into the chaos in the hall. I wasn't about to be cornered like some rat and devoured by any of these fucking animals. If I couldn't make it out of this, then I was going to go down fighting.

It was a mess. Prisoners and guards were at war. There were dead bodies on the floor from both sides and countless wounded men. I could faintly hear the warden, my dad's old buddy, trying get everyone to calm the fuck down and then warning us that we were about to be restrained by another set of guards.

I found Embry and Paul after stabbing and cutting my way into the mess hall. By the time I got to them, Paul was bleeding from his left side and Embry's head had been busted up, but he was conscious and ready to fight. I had cuts and bruises on my body from the numerous fights I had been before getting to the mess hall.

"We gotta get out of here!" I yelled to them over the blaring sound of the alarm.

I started toward the door where I remembered led to the visitation area. I noticed an Ops team enter the room. They moved in a way I swore I had seen before. Suddenly there were more explosions from flash bombs. That shit was blinding. I shielded my eyes until it went dark again. It was then I noticed two things. There was this one guard. He was small but the way he moved, with precise and swift executions, I swore I had seen it before. I knew someone who moved like that but she wouldn't be crazy enough to do this, would she? The place was crawling with hardened, coldblooded criminals. The last thing I wanted was for them to catch her and figure out that she was a girl. They would string her ass up.

But just as I came to the realization that Bella was here, fighting, I saw that she had spotted me with Embry and Paul, she started to make her way toward me. I was moving toward her when I felt a sharp sting in my back followed by a warm sensation. I spun around on instinct and caught Banner by the throat.

"You fuck!" I shouted at him. He had literally stabbed me in the back.

"Let go!" he said, struggling against my hold.

I growled in his face, his eyes filled with fear as I stabbed him in the gut. The bastard stabbed me in the chest and I rammed the shiv in his gut repeatedly until he was gasping for air. I felt another stab to my side as he fell and I looked up at Bella as she ran toward me now while I dropped Banner and fell to my knees. I didn't know where Embry and Paul were. There was so much shouting. I felt warm and then I started to feel cold. Someone grabbed my hair and pulled my head back and I knew they were about to kill me.

It would be okay. For some reason, I thought that.

I had seen Bella, it was all I could think about. I had seen her and she was beautiful. I felt the blade at my throat and I closed my eyes.

Then I heard the gunshots. I opened my eyes and Bella was over me now. Her black helmet was gone and she was staring down at me while the world collided around us.

"I've got you," she said to me while holding my head in her lap. "I'm here and I've got you."

Suddenly, she pushed us down to the ground and covered my body with hers. I heard a loud bang go off and saw bright light and then there was nothing else.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Chapter Seven: Make a Move**_

 _ **Bella, February, 2007**_

The punching bag bounced back to me and I hit it again twice as hard as I did before. I was in shape. I had started working out as soon as Carlisle said I could. I had to be ready for anything. I didn't have the luxury to just relax and be while I regroup. Not when there was so much to do and imminent threat breathing down my neck in the form of a fucked up spy!

The bag bounced back to me again and I kicked it.

Over the years, I found that kickboxing helped to relieve my stress. I found that out in high school when I wanted to punch a cheerleader through a fucking wall one day for the bullying she thought was funny as hell. The idiot didn't know what I was capable of at the time and Jamie would have had my ass if I drop kicked the bitch in the middle of the hall before class. We weren't hiding what we could do in terms of fighting. Back then, laying low was the best option when you hardly had your dad around and your mom was out there in the world living her life and pretending like you didn't exist.

That as Charlie and Renee's shit though. Not mine. I kind of made peace with Renee abandoning me long ago. It hurt, being a little kid and watching your mom drive off in the car of a man who wasn't your daddy and she didn't even have the courtesy of telling you goodbye.

I wasn't all twisted up inside because of her back then. I learned to deal. Besides, I had Jamie and Rosie so I was cool. It was my dad who was deeply affected by her absence.

It was what was bothering him now. That was why he hated me and Jasper being together. We had figured out what he couldn't. And what Renee wasn't willing to do for him.

We learned how to be together.

What made it work for us that I didn't try to reform Jasper. He was the same guy I had met and he has not tried to change me. I was the same girl he met, but he was around and he loved me.

And I wasn't afraid to love him.

So hitting the bag made me feel better and it kept that bitch cheerleader out of the hospital and my ass out of prison at that time. But now I realized that I would take her over having to deal with Agent Demetri Collins.

Edward and Emmett were carefully investigating him. We needed to find weak spots. Things we could use. But we had to be careful. He was a spy. And we didn't know all of his contacts. The search could take around the world.

The bag came back and I hit it again. With the morning I have had, I needed to hit my punching bag as hard as I could. With each hit, all I could think about was how I wanted to throw Agent Collins through a fucking wall and defeat all the progress we have made to get to where we are.

While he was here, I had to hold my breath and rein in my anger as he spoke of what he intended to do with Jasper. He knew about my plans to get him out but he wanted to take things a step further.

After he left I went to the gym in the barn and I nearly ripped it apart. Edward came out here to stop me. But one look at me, made him decide to leave me alone. I could only guess what he saw. I was breathing heavily and probably looked ready to kill.

When he turned away, I mentally thanked him because I needed this. I wanted to destroy something so I wouldn't take it out on those closest to me.

Agent Collins impromptu meeting had left me fucked up! How could my dad betray me like this? He let Collins know what I had planned and now Collins wanted to use Jasper like his own personal surveillance bug. He wanted to get him out of prison so he could use Jasper to infiltrate gangs and bring back information to him.

That wouldn't work.

Jasper went into prison with his head held high amongst his peers. He ratted on the powerful people who thought they could use him and then throw him away. His father and himself went through a lot for the information Jasper turned over. Now Collins wanted him to go back in, but this time as a glorified snitch for the CIA. He wanted Jasper to march back into his old life with a target on his fucking forehead.

I couldn't believe what he was saying to me. And how casual and happy he sounded about it. He couldn't be serious about what he suggested! He had to be joking. If he wasn't, then he must be out of his mind to think I'd allow him to do what he wanted.

I mostly couldn't begin to fathom why Charlie would fuck me over like this. I think I would have rather him punching me in the face continuously while asking how dumb I was over this betrayal.

Nevertheless, I had a plan and I was pushing forward with it.

The bag came back and I hit it twice as hard as I did before. My fist burned from the contact but it felt good.

How in the hell was I going to beat Mr. D at his own game?

'Cause this was what the power hungry fiend was doing. He was playing a game. He knew he had me a certain way and he was using it as blackmail at his own advantage. I hadn't even started working for him yet and he was already getting on my nerves with his manipulation. I had to find a way to get rid of him or else he would destroy everything.

Some time had passed since I went to see Jasper. Carlisle was all smiles when he learned that he had been right. Jasper wanted me to focus on making a safe home for the girls and find some way out from under Agent Collins' thumb. But I couldn't give up on him. I would get him out of prison. I had Edward, Emmett, and Leah in my corner. I even had Jake. Although he was just around to raise a little hell and if a prison break would give him that thrill then he was up for it. Carlisle might seem hesitant but he too was on board with the plan.

Rosie didn't like the tension between me and Dad. She thought that we needed to have a sit down and properly talk about what was bothering us. I wasn't interested. And neither was Charlie. We both had said our piece and were on opposite sides of the fence now. I guess he saw my support for Jasper as the mistake he made in trusting my mother and falling for her. He thought I was living his mistake. And I knew I wasn't. What Jasper and I had as true while my mom had been lying to Charlie the whole time. She was just waiting until she could reunite with Aro.

I explained this to Rosie and she saw it as a valid reason to talk to him.

I didn't.

So I decided that Rosie was on the fence when he came to Jasper and what I had planned.

Asking Emmett to keep things from her was hard, but he saw Jasper as a friend and brother and was willing to. It was for the greater good. And if it went to shit, her denial would be valid. So it worked out perfectly.

As days passed, I missed Jasper more and more. Seeing him for that short period of time only made things worse. I yearned of him. To feel his touch. To see his smile. Hell, I would even take him being mad at me right now. I just wanted him here. With us.

The girls were doing great. They were happy and thriving. Every day with them made me smile. I couldn't help it. Whenever I was around them, a smile would always be on my face and I couldn't help the happiness they invoked in me.

Each girl had her own little personality. At least as a proud mama, I told myself that. I knew my girls. Jamie-Lyn was the serious one. She was the oldest and in no mood for playing when she wanted her food or attention. My little Michaela was the quiet type. She didn't cry a lot. She had these beautiful, curious eyes. Whenever you picked her up, she wouldn't be trying to slap at you like Jamie-Lyn, she would try to touch your face then lean on your shoulder. I loved being around them. Whenever anyone was searching for me that was where you'd find me, in my babies' room. They were the best of me and I couldn't believe I was their mom.

I promised to protect them from the harm of everything. I promised to teach them to defend themselves once they were be able to. I wanted them to be smart and ready for whatever the world was going to throw their way. They had two dangerous persons as their mom and dad. The world they were about to grow up into, might be a little different from another kid's and I wanted to prepare them for that.

I don't know what Collins got planned for me. I don't know if I was going to make it out of this alive.

But I was going to make damn sure they had a life.

Whether I was here to live with them or not.

And I was going to start by giving them their father.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Chapter Eight: Lights out. Riot!**_

 _ **Bella, February, 2007**_

 _The doorbell rang as I headed toward the kitchen. I went for it, not bothering to go and get my needed cup of coffee first. I had been up since the crack of dawn because Jamie Lyn had restless night and her sister decided to join in on the fun. I finally got them back to bed and made my way downstairs ready for a cup of the good stuff._

 _I didn't bother heading to the kitchen and went for the door. It was about five in the morning, but it could be anyone. Carlisle, Edward or Leah, although Leah wouldn't knock she would open the door with her own key and walk in._

 _My suspicion rose as the person rang the doorbell again and with my gun in my hand and at the ready with the safety off, I approached it, asking who was there._

 _When no one answered, I pointed my gun at the door, demanding to know who it was. "Who is it?" I shouted._

" _Open the door, Isabella!"_

 _Oh fuck! What was he doing here?_

 _Opening the door to reveal half of my body while knowingly showing him my gun, I saw Agent Collins standing there. He didn't wait for me to say "come in." He waltzed right by me and into the house, heading for the kitchen. He only paused to look back at me with the gun in my hand and smirked. "Glad to see you at the ready, Isabella. Makes me hopeful about us working together soon. So what's for breakfast, Isabella?"_

" _Name's Bella." I replied as I closed my door and followed him to the kitchen._

" _I told you," he said during his search for a cup to pour himself some of my coffee into it. He found what he wanted and poured himself a cup. "And I told you, Isabella…I prefer to call you Isabella. Sounds more wholesome yet exotic."_

 _I ignored that part. "What do you want?" The sooner he talked, the quicker I would get rid of him._

" _If I said, you…would you believe me?" There was a look in his eyes when he said that but again, I chose to ignore him._

" _Get to the point and leave."_

 _He sipped his coffee before answering "It's simple. Charlie told me about your plan to bust your lover out of prison and I think I have something better in mind. Oh, and since we're going to be in each other's life for quite a while so call me, Demetri."_

 _There was that look again._

 _I didn't like it._

From then on, Demetri told me what he had in plan for Jasper. He wanted to release him from prison and have him work for him as an informant. He wanted to plant a big, red target on Jasper's forehead and send him back into the life he was born in, but with a major change.

He wanted the guys on the outside to think Jasper was back, but he wasn't with them. He wasn't back as their leader. He would be a government owned rat. It was the worst thing for a boss in Jasper's position to be and Demetri knew it. Edward and I would still been working for him but Jasper was to join the team and we would all work for him, being his spies or killers until he said when.

"He said that?" Jake said in disbelief.

"And more," I told him.

We had just met up with some mercenaries he got to help us break Jasper out of prison. His dad, Billy, would be footing their bill for the 'rescue'. According to Jake, these guys were the best of the best. There was nothing they couldn't do, and nowhere they couldn't extract a package from.

Besides, Billy wanted his guys, Embry and Paul, out of there and back in his crew. They were good at whatever they did for him.

Jake and I didn't question it. Billy was pretty straightforward in his call. And we wanted as much help that didn't have to do with Charlie or Demetri as we could get. To me, as far as Charlie was concerned, if he was going to continue to work with Demetri and take sides against Jasper and me then he was on my shit list and I wanted nothing to do with a hypocrite like him.

"I sense tension," Jake said with a chuckle as he watched me bite into my burger.

We were seated on the hood of his truck, having a meal. I wasn't too far from home. Jake would be staying with us until the job was done.

"Shut up and eat your food," I told him.

"What?" He laughed but took a huge bite of his burger. "Don't feel like talking?"

I didn't answer, just swallowed my soda.

Jake chuckled at my silence and said, "Listen, Bells…I don't have to tell you can trust me, but you know you can trust me." He shared.

"I know."

"Good." He sighed. "Look, I don't fully know what's going on between you and Charlie and for the sake of everything we're about to do, you know me, I like to keep the slate clean."

He was right. Whenever he was about to go on a job, Jake forgot everything. He said it was essential to clear his mind of all burden so nothing would interfere with the task at hand. Having mundane daily problems plaguing your mind while you worked could get your ass killed.

Jake did a lot of dangerous shit that required his full attention so I didn't want to unload my problems with Charlie on him right now. Especially since he was about to help me pull off some shit that could get our asses hurt or worse. We had to focus if we wanted to win.

"I know how you are, Black." I chuckled, trying to lighten up. Jake smiled at me, making it easy for me to genuinely smile back at him. "I also don't want to fuck things up."

He nodded. "No soap opera moments around here," he said with a laugh.

We continued to eat and I thought Jake was going to let it rest, but he had something to add. "Listen, I don't get what's up with your dad. I know he's been acting funny. Even with his friend, my dad. I know Rose thinks it bugs him that you and Jasper still have…well, that you two still have a relationship. Hell! It produced kids! It didn't look like a one off type of thing where you two are concerned. Jasper just as invested in it as you are. I think Charlie started concerned, but now…"

"Yeah, he thinks I'm throwing my life away." I finished for him.

Jake laughed. "You're a grown woman, Bells. You do what you want."

"Tell Charlie Swan that," I countered. "He hates me so much right now he ran and spilled his beans to Demetri."

"Demetri?" Jake raised an eyebrow at me in question.

"Yeah, he doesn't want me to call him Agent Collins," I said, shivering a little in disgust. Something about the bastard sent shivers down my spine. "He likes calling me 'Isabella' and wants me to call him 'Demetri'."

"Hmm…" Jake said.

"That's all you got to say? Hmm?"

"Fine. I don't like the way he looks at you," Jake added. "I think he wants you."

I laughed because I didn't believe it. I know I saw some looks from him when he came around but Jake had to be joking. "You're kidding me, right?"

"No." Jake said crossly. "I saw it when we're around each other. Even the way he speaks about you when you're not there."

I didn't like how that sounded. Demetri was speaking fondly of me? Oh hell no!

"He can't stand my ass," Jake continued. "And I hate him just as much. He thinks I'm a thug, but he won't directly confront me. He thinks himself better than me and sees me as unstable and uncontrollable so he stays away. I like that. But with you, because of the shit he has over you, I'm afraid he'll want to use it at his advantage."

I swallowed hard. If he tried anything, I wouldn't hold back. Even if we had to, we would go down together. I had come too far to let another weasel think he could possess me. "I think so too."

"Be careful," Jake said. "Some of the missions he will send you on, I can't be there for you and Edward. You gotta watch out yourselves. Because of his little ideas he has planned for you, he isn't painting a good picture of the two of you to the team you're going to be on. But I gotta someone on the team that can watch out for you though. She won't be able to show it right away, but she's got your back."

I cocked an eyebrow at him. "Thanks for the heads up, and who's the girl? I'm sensing something more than friends here?"

"Yeah, yeah, she knows you're nuts and will cut her in little pieces if she hurts me," Jake said with laughter.

I punched his arm. "My God, Jake! I'm not a house of Horrors, you know!"

He just continued to laugh at me.

I joined in. I'm glad he was happy.

After that day with my friend, Jake stayed with us in the main house with me and the girls He loved hanging around the girls. I observed him with them on more than one occasion and told him he looked like he would be a good dad. He smiled and said he liked the thought of it.

We were seated in the living room. Jake was talking about the job I would likely be doing for Demetri and the CIA. Edward and Leah joined us eventually. Jake told me and Edward that Demetri was egging the elite team we would be on to hate us. We shouldn't expect too much help from them. In fact, they might try to sink us or get us killed.

Leah got pissed. "I want to kill that son of a bitch!" She seethed just as Carlisle came into the living room and took a seat across from me. As Jake spoke, Carlisle kept his eyes on me and I remember him warning me to watch out for Edward or I'd have him to deal with.

I have been spending a little learning all I could about Carlisle even from Edward himself. And from what I learned, Carlisle was a skilled killer. A cleaner without remorse. He wouldn't think twice about getting rid of me if Edward dropped out of this equation. While I wanted to find a way to 'clean' Demetri.

Jake was still talking but I tuned him out as the idea took life inside of me.

"Carlisle?" I said.

The room stopped and focused on me.

Carlisle smirked like he could read my mind.

I went on anyways. "I want to learn."

He didn't ask what. He didn't deny me. He simply said, "Do you think you could handle it?"

I felt all eyes on us. "I can kill. Since I can do that, then teach me to clean."

"It takes a precise madness to do it correctly," Carlisle said. "When I'm doing it, I give myself over to the task at hand and I don't stop until the job is done."

"Like with Chekov?"

I remember how different that Carlisle seemed from the doctor who delivered my babies.

"Exactly," he said. "Also, every job is different. For instance, you would feel different 'cleaning' Charlie than you would if you were getting rid of Demetri Collins."

"That's who I want," I said without pause.

Carlisle smiled broadly and offered his hand to me. "Why, Miss Swan, I think I have a pupil at hand."

I smiled and reached out and took his extended hand in a handshake.

Jake broke the silence from the others. "What the fuck just happened?"

Carlisle and I just laughed at him.

In bed that night, I thought about what Jake said. Edward and I were joining an elite task force of killers and extractors for the CIA. We would be handling black operations. We would be invisible. We got in, did what need to be done and got out. We needed to be trained again and Jake was willing to help us get started on that. I told him we were already doing our own thing and we were. Edward and I were learning to work together and apart in fighting, shooting and exercising. We were preparing ourselves for extreme combat and difficult conditions. Leah helped on many occasions. As a killer, she knew how to take a guy down with precise blows or she would give really good pointers on where to shoot to kill. I knew most of what she was teaching, but chose to go over it again for Edward's benefit.

Besides, Leah liked the newly ripped Edward a lot. I caught her more than once checking him out and I had to laugh at her. Beneath her attraction though, was a wife who as deeply worried about her husband. Leah was used to being the one in danger as she was while she protected Jasper. She wasn't happy with sitting on the sideline and sending Edward in to play. She and I thought he was being used as a pawn to distract me. It was obvious and I hated it. I would have to work twice as hard on these missions to ensure he and I came back alive. It was going to change him in ways he wouldn't imagine. The things he was about to do and the lengths he would have to go were going to affect him. Jake and I warned him because Edward wasn't a field agent in the FBI. Jasper had planted him there for information. If I were being nice, I'd say Edward was a nerd. He was a pretty boy who belonged in front of a computer. He was a communication type. Not a field operative. But with the training I had him undergoing, I was stripping away the nerd and replacing him with basically a smart jock.

Jake agreed with me. It was the only way to keep him alive and bring him back to Leah and Carlisle.

Leah and I were trying to help him mentally prepare for that, but Jake was also concerned about me seeing as I would be leaving a lot behind for these missions. I was the same girl I once was. I was a mother and to rip myself from my kids like that would be disastrous for me.

Jake wasn't wrong, but this was to protect them. I was taking this punishment for my family.

We had just finished training and were drinking our water. Like his dad, Edward tend to get to the point without beating around the bush when they spoke. "So, Jasper's thing, it's…"

"Tomorrow."

"I know," he said. "And I'm not going I assume?"

"It's me and Jake and the guys," I replied. "Leah is here with the girls. I need you to protect them."

"Then Dad takes my place," he offered.

"Fine."

"Good."

And just like that, it was worked out. The day was just a couple hours away. And a few more hours after that, I'd have Jasper out of that prison.

Edward walked out of the barn/gym before me but he came right back in with a serious expression on his face. "What's wrong?" I asked him.

"Your dad is here."

I dropped my bag and stormed passed Edward. He turned and followed.

"Where is he?" I hissed.

"Main house."

Leah was in there with the babies. I slapped open the front door but no one was there. I stomped into the house and headed straight for the stairs. I was about to climb them when he stopped me, "Isabella," he said. I turned and saw Demetri stepping into my house with a smile on his face.

I turned back to the stairs and saw Charlie at the top of them.

"Why are you here?" I demanded to know.

Charlie looked taken aback by my coldness but quickly covered it.

Wait, what? Wasn't he the one fighting with me? Betraying me? Why was he here now?

"What?" Demetri said, tauntingly. "We can't check up on our favorite girl, Isabella?"

I ignored him and took the stairs two at a time and walking by my father, going to my babies' room. I bust the door open and saw Leah standing there with Michaela in her arms. "Are they okay?"

"We're fine."

I nodded, breathing a sigh of relief and headed back toward the stairs to kick my father and Demetri out of my house. When I stopped next to Charlie, I couldn't help but notice some visible bruises on his face. He looked like he had been in a fight. When? How did it happen and with who?

I wanted to ask. A hint of concern rose in me, but I quickly dismissed it, choosing instead to listen in on what he was saying to Demetri but only catching the end of their brief conversation when Charlie said, "Not like this."

What did he mean? Not like what? What did they have planned?

Whatever it was it made me realize I had to step my game up and get the show on the road. As soon as I got rid of them, I was calling Jake and we were going to make a move.

"Say what you want and get out," I told them. I wasn't in the mood. Whenever I looked at them, I could only think of how much I wanted to hurt them.

"I went to see Jasper," Demetri said. "Ran my idea about him working for us by him. He wasn't exactly happy about it, but he's a criminal in prison, probably trying and failing to protect his ass from the big boys nightly. He must be quite the catch with how pretty he is with his long hair," he said, goading me. "Besides, I own him so he is in no position to refuse anything I have to offer, now is he, Isabella?"

God, I wanted to attack him! He thought he owned Jasper?

My mind was split in two with one side wanting to hurt him and the other side reminded me, not yet.

I didn't answer. Demetri took it as a reason to go on. "Oh, I think you have considered it, Isabella," he said. "Doesn't that make him half of a man?"

Great, he wanted me to feel insecure about Jasper and what could be happening to him in prison.

"Or he could be the one dealing out the fucking," Demetri said, pushing me to the edge of my sanity.

I chuckled. "Sounds like you want a piece of the action." It was my turn to goad him. "Got some deep, dark erotic fantasies you want to play out?"

"Maybe, but I'm not thinking about playing them out with Jasper."

What the fuck?

y eyes danced between them. I wanted to see what Charlie would do. I wanted to see if the man who raised me was in there somewhere. If he was, was he really not going to open his mouth and defend his daughter against a predator who just openly admitted to wanting me right in front of him!

Apparently not. Because my dad was gone. And the man standing in front of me, I didn't know him. This man merely looked at Demetri who just smiled at me and then at Charlie like he said nothing wrong.

Yeah. This solidified it. I was done with Charlie Swan.

"Say whatever you want to Jasper," I said to Demetri. "He's a grown man. If he wants to deal with whatever you offered him, it's his head. Not mine."

He didn't like my answer or my calm demeanor. I could see it. He expected me to get riled up. So with nothing else to say, he turned and walked out the door. Charlie was slow to follow him, but he eventually left too.

Why did he wait to? I had nothing to say to him.

I waited a while after they left before calling Jake. I packed my things and Edward took his place over at the main house. Carlisle would be coming with me. Jake had whatever else was needed for this mission. Jake asked why we were moving now and since he wasn't around for Demetri and Charlie's visit, I told him why.

He didn't like that Charlie wasn't saying shit in my defense. He found it strange. I told him I didn't care. I just wanted to get things done. He agreed that we should make our move now because if we wait, we might not get a chance like this again. Demetri would take control of the situation and do things his way.

"How much power does he have?" I asked Jake, wanting to know the extent of Demetri's pull in the CIA.

"A good amount of it," he said. "He also has the attention of the bosses so he gets away with a lot. He looks totally clean, so you can't tell just how dirty he is."

"Great, I swapped one Banner for another," I scoffed. "To look that clean to bigger heads means you got some serious pull or some shit on someone powerful."

"Yeah, you have to." Jake agreed.

We spoke nothing else on the matter. I wasn't just going to deal with it. Carlisle had decided to help me by teaching me what he did as a cleaner and I was going to use that tactic to cover our tracks. Boulder, Colorado couldn't be our home if things didn't go the way I wanted.

I wasn't just a killer like Demetri thought and I was going to prove that to him. He wasn't dealing with a mindless drone. And he was going to learn his lesson the hard way.

We made our way to the meet up point with the team. The team leader, Dirk, an ex-Marine, and I went over the plan. It was simple. We were going to cause a riot and extract our targets in the chaos.

It was going to be a beautiful mess according to Jake.

Carlisle thought it was wise for me to stay outside with him. I was going in and wasn't about to be told otherwise. Jake explained as much to Carlisle.

"She's gotta see it through herself," he said to him.

Carlisle offered a measly, "Be careful."

A guard on the inside was paid handsomely for letting us in at the right time. I was dressed like one of the men in black combat gear, armed with my knives, my nine millimeter and a MP5 submachine gun. My hair was tied back and wrapped in a bun under a hair tie and I had my helmet on. I looked like any other guy on the Ops team we were pretending to be.

The alarm was sounded and we made our way into the prison. It was a little soon but whatever. We headed in anyways.

It was fucking chaos as we made it to the halls. Prisoners were coming from every corner attacking each other and the guards and eventually us. We had to fight our way through them by injuring most of them by either shooting them with non- lethal shots to their bodies like in the shoulder or the leg or by cutting them with our knives.

Some we had to fight fist to fist with as we made our way through them.

We heard the warden announced the rightful team's presence so we had to move quickly. Everyone on the team was aware of the targets and what they looked like. Jasper, Embry and Paul were not to be harmed.

We made it to the cafeteria and they cut the lights out but the generators kicked in. We set off flash bombs to distract the men while I searched for Jasper among them. The warden was still warning them to stop and I had just gotten through with three guys trying to attack me when I spotted Jasper then I saw Embry and Paul. I bucked and weaved, trying to make my way to him through the men. They looked tired and were injured. Jasper looked haggard but he didn't stop fighting.

I saw him and I knew when he spotted me. He began to move in my direction. I started to make my way toward him and then I saw it.

A man came into my line of sight and blocked my view from Jasper and the others. I had a guy on me. He thought I was a small guy and he was trying to take me down. I fought him off breaking his arm and sending to the floor howling in pain just in time to look up and see that Jasper had been injured. He stopped and spun around to someone. I couldn't make out who it was. I had to get closer.

And the closer I got, the angrier I became I witnessed Jasper and the other man, who turned out to be Banner, stab each other. On the outside I had to remain calm and stay focus, but on the inside I was screaming in horror. I had come this close to saving him and Banner was about to ruin it if I didn't get to Jasper.

I ran to him as he dropped Banner and fell to his knees, weakened from the attack. I saw what he couldn't see. I saw the bastard over him. The punk had a knife and he was going to cut Jasper's throat. It was playing out like a horror movie in front of me. He grabbed Jasper by the hair and pulled his head back, but I wasn't about to let it end this way. I aimed for the bastard and shot him right between the eyes and got to Jasper before he could fall on the floor, catching him in my arms. "I've got you." I told him.

He smiled up at me with a crazy, lazy grin on his face. In the middle of chaos, and I wanted to kiss him. "I love you," he said lazily. "You're so crazy. What are you doing in here?"

Jake ran over to me. He helped me help Jasper to his feet. "We're here to rescue you."

Jake looked worried.

I know. It looked bad. We had to get Jasper out of here and to Carlisle.

Which brought us to the other part of the plan.

Faking Jasper's death.

Without even knowing it, Banner did us a favor. It was terrible to think that, but he did. By hurting Jasper when he did, he helped me get him out of here with the perfect reason. Dirk and the team, followed me and Jake out of the cafeteria taking Jasper, Embry and Paul with us. We got them to the sick bay of the prison where Carlisle was waiting.

"What the fuck happened?" Carlisle demanded to know when we loaded Jasper onto a gurney.

"He was stabbed," I said.

"Did you plan this?" Carlisle wanted to know while started to work on Jasper as to other nurses I didn't know worked on Embry and Paul.

"Bella?" Jasper kept saying. "Bella?" he wouldn't stop asking for me.

"I have to get him out of here," Carlisle lamented while he worked. He injected Jasper with something. I didn't stop to ask what it was. I just wanted save Jasper.

"Can't you handle it?" I was nervous but I wouldn't show it. I had to remain stone cold to everyone except Jasper. He had a strong hold on my hand and he wouldn't let me go. He wouldn't let me leave his side and honestly, I didn't want to.

"I can handle it!" Carlisle seethed. "I would just rather be doing it somewhere else."

"Just patch him up so we can move."

"Bella, I want to see 'em." Jasper smiled at me drowsily. "I want to see the girls."

His eyes rolled back in his head and he passed out. Carlisle continued to work. I panicked but Carlisle said Jasper was okay. He was stable. It was a part of the plan to make him look and seem dead.

"We've gotta move!" Jake said to me.

"I know."

We had to get them out of here now. Embry and Paul were each loaded in a laundry bin before being wheeled out but Jasper would be a different story. We were taking advantage of the fact that Jasper was unconscious and seemingly dead. We unplugged the monitor from him in time for the warden to walk in when Carlisle was pronouncing Jasper dead.

I noticed a look that passed between Carlisle and the warden. They knew each other.

"He'll be good?" The warden asked patting Jasper's head. "Sorry about what happened to him."

"He's gone to a better place," Carlisle replied.

"Good." The warden smiled before he leaned down and whispered in Jasper's ear. "Take it easy, kid."

Carlisle and I wheeled Jasper out of the prison by the ambulance bay and into our waiting van. Carlisle and I got in with him along with Jake.

We sped out of there taking the route planned to get away. Jasper woke up along the way as we made our way away. He expressed how much he wanted to see the girls. I didn't think it was wise yet to take him straight to the main house on our compound in Boulder so we were going to take him to our hideaway. A cabin deep in the woods of Colorado. We were almost home.

We stopped at a rendezvous point. The rest of the payment was handed over to Dirk and his team of mercenaries for the job. Embry and Paul were treated and met by a few others from Billy Black's gang. We passed them off to the guys and I thanked Billy via a phone call.

Arriving at the cabin with sleeping Jasper was a relief. He was still weak and recuperating from his injuries but whenever he was awake he wanted to see the girls.

"Soon," I told him.

Carlisle offered to stay with him, at first I didn't want to leave him but Carlisle said it would be okay.

I went back and forth between the cabin and our home over the next few days. Things were silent on front from when it came to Demetri. I didn't like it and I was keeping my eyes open. He was up to something.

I woke up early this morning. Jasper was still asleep, but Carlisle was awake. I told him I was going to check on the girls. He said it was okay.

When I got home, Leah bombarded me with questions. Edward knew I got Jasper out but Leah wanted details while I wanted to see the girls. I tried to walk and talk as we made our way to their room. I had already showered and changed into jeans and a plaid shirt along with my boots and swept my hair up in a ponytail before I came here.

"So he's okay?" Leah asked from her place by the door as I walked into my daughters' room and breathed a sigh of relief. They were both asleep and looking beautiful I couldn't wait for Jasper to meet them.

"He's banged up. But he's good." I answered her.

I went over to the cribs and picked up Michaela. She squirmed in my arms burying her little nose into my bosom and making cute little noises. I knew she wouldn't cry too much unlike her sister, Jamie-Lyn if I had disturbed her.

I was focused on Michaela but I heard a surprise gasp coming from Leah before she said, "Hey boss," and Jasper's gruff voice answering her as he said, "Hey."

"Looking good." She told him.

"You too." He replied to her. I was watching the exchange and noticed happy tears in Leah's eyes before she turned away.

He met my eyes as he slowed walked into the room taking ginger steps. "I thought you were asleep," I said. I didn't stop rocking with Michaela. He came over and placed a gentle hand on her back. He looked nervous.

"These are your daughters," I said to him with a smile. He leaned in and smelled her hair before he kissed my forehead. When he pulled away I took a deep breath, happy that I had succeeded. Jasper was alive and standing in front of me. "Welcome home."


	9. Chapter 9

_**Chapter Nine: Awake**_

 _ **Jasper, February, 2007**_

Bella was talking over my head. We were in a car or a truck and we were moving. I didn't care where we were going. I just knew that Bella was here and I was out of prison. Carlisle, my asshole of an uncle had injected me with something back at the prison's sick bay and it knocked me out for a little while but now I was back and didn't want to be too far from Bella.

"I'm here," she said, reassuring me while gripping my hand tight.

Yeah, she was here.

I couldn't believe she had come into the prison for me. This incredibly crazy woman and I loved her so much for it.

I gripped her hand tight to get her attention. She looked down at me with her radiant brown eyes. "I want to see the girls." I told her and I did. I wanted to see my babies. I couldn't think of anything better to do aside from being with their mother; the courageous woman who was keeping us all alive.

I drifted off and woke up again with Carlisle and Jake taking me somewhere.

"Where's Bella?"

Carlisle laughed at my question but Jake answered as they lifted and carried me. "She'll back in a minute. Just rest."

I didn't really like anybody telling me what to do and I didn't like being carried like some chick and I should be wondering why Jake was here and how close he and Bella had gotten in my absence, but I would be bullshitting myself. I knew she loved me. The woman who came to see me in prison wasn't fucking around on me. I trusted my crazy girlfriend. It was a hard thing to do. Trust anyone. But I trusted Bella.

"Alright," I answered him then fell right back asleep like a fucking baby in their arms.

I woke up some time later to Bella asleep beside me in the bed. She was curled up next to me, being careful not to hurt my injuries in any way but I wanted her closer. So I pushed the pain aside and pulled her to me.

The move hurt like hell and it woke a concerned Bella up. "No!" She tried to pull away. "You'll hurt yourself."

I smiled at her and she caught it while struggling with little effort against my hold, smiling back has she stopped pushing me away. Instead she allowed me to pull her close. I laid back down, content to have Bella in my arms and fell asleep.

I slept better than I had in months.

The routine of sleeping with Bella in my arms and waking up to see her gone in the morning went on for a couple of weeks. Sometimes she came back smelling like fresh linen and babies. It was a sweet scent but I felt a little jealous. Our kids were nearby. I had deduced that much. But I wanted to know. I stopped her one morning as she was sneaking out.

She had carefully gotten up and was about to leave the room. Carlisle wasn't around but he always seemed to show up right after Bella left anyways. He would check up on me and ask if I felt any different. Some of his questions were okay. They sounded pretty standard. I was stabbed after all. But some of his questions were weird. He was always asking me what day it was and in what year.

What the hell? Did he think a couple stabs would make me senile? It was irritating and I planned to confront him about it.

So I had been up for awhile and watching Bella wake up beside me and stretched like the sexy cat she was before making her way out of the bed. I pretended to be asleep as she moved around the room, getting ready to leave. I waited until her hand was on the doorknob before my voice stopped her.

"Are we near them?" It was a straight forward question. She had to know I was curious and couldn't wait to meet our daughters.

She turned to me, smiling. "Yeah," she said as she walked back over to the bed, leaning over me. She lightly kissed my lips. "We're at the cabin."

"The cabin?"

"Yeah." Bella sighed. "It's a little home away from home for those living on the compound."

"Compound?"

Bella laughed at my questions and then went to explain how they had bought a compound out here in Colorado. She and I and the girls were going to live in the main house where she and the girls lived now. Edward and Leah have their own place as did Uncle Carlisle. Jake would stay with us whenever he visited. So would Rosalie and Emmett. She stopped herself from mentioning her father and I didn't see it as the right time to mention Charlie and mine's fight.

She stayed with me for a while that morning, smiling and talking animatedly about our little girls and the characters they were. She ended up being a little sad when I mentioned Michael and when she thought about Peter and Charlotte.

"I didn't get to know them," she said solemnly. "They were a huge part of your life and I just wish I had gotten to know them better."

"Hey, let's look at it like wherever they are, they're together, and smiling down on us." I told her as I wiped a fallen tear from her rosy cheek. "I know Peter would be laughing at me."

"Why?" Bella chuckled and asked.

"Because I didn't seem like the family man type."

We stayed there for a while, just being together in the silence and it was…it was nice.

For the past few days, I have been getting visits from Leah and Edward. I have even woken up to Jake sitting by my bedside. He and I got to talking and held a good conversation about Bella and Edward and Demetri as he told me how Agent Collins wanted Bella all to himself.

When we got around to discussing why Demetri wouldn't let up on Bella and when the words 'he wants her' left Jake's mouth, I realized just killing that bastard wouldn't be enough for me. I had to get my ass out of this bed and find a way for me and my family to disappear after I handled Demetri as he wanted to be called, the lowlife motherfucker!

I didn't have to say anything to Jake for him to know what I was thinking and apparently he wasn't so objective to the idea of ridding the world of Demetri Collins.

"You know for a spy, you think like a gangster," I complimented him.

He smirked.

I didn't know Billy Black personally but I have heard through the grapevine that he was a scary motherfucker, which made me respect the man. The look on his son at the moment as we talked about Demetri Collins told me he was bad as his father.

But all the visitors I was getting and the checkups from Carlisle couldn't ease the yearning I felt from wanting to see my girls.

I had grown stronger and could go around the cabin without too much assistance but I was pretending to need it when Bella was around. I wanted to surprise her with my improvement, but I also loved having her tight little body so close to mine. She had no idea how tempting it was to have her so close and not do anything about it. But I promised myself I was going to end the charade soon.

Bella had spent the night as usual and as soon as she was out the door, I got out of bed and made my way to the bathroom, taking care of business and taking a shower. Uncle Carlisle was sitting on the bed when I got out of the bathroom. I didn't give a shit. I got dressed in front of him. I threw on some jeans and white t-shirt and the boots my uncle threw down on the floor in front of me.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

I wasn't all that well. I still felt groggy as shit sometimes. It had been happening a lot for the last few days now actually. My body felt okay. Like I was healing. But my mind felt tired. Sometimes, I woke up feeling a little out of place and forgetting for a second where I was and what I was doing. The other day I forgot my mother's name and it took me a while to remember it. I told Carlisle, not Bella, about it and he was unusually calm about it. He said it was just a side effect from the trauma I had been through. I didn't believe him but I let it rest.

Walking out of the bedroom, I went to the kitchen for a cup of tea. I wanted coffee but Bella wouldn't let me drink it yet. She thought I was too sick too. As soon as I saw my girls today, I was getting a cup of coffee. I wasn't going to smoke around my babies so coffee would become my new fix.

Carlisle followed me into the kitchen with his weirdness, asking me about how I was feeling. And I felt like it was time he told me what was bothering him. He looked worried. If I was really thinking about it, he looked scared of me. And that was not my uncle. He wasn't afraid of anyone.

Shouldn't he be happier? I was out. Banner was dead. Yeah, I got injured but I was tough and I was here. So what was up his ass? And the damn questions were pissing me off!

I wanted to enjoy not being in a prison cell. To breathe whatever air this was, and not have to see the inside of a prison cell. I wanted to enjoy being 'dead' for a while. I knew what was going on. Edward had explained. I knew the world thought I had died in the prison riot and I wanted to have some fun with that before going after Aro. But my uncle's mood was dragging me down.

"Bella is gone," he said like he hadn't noticed we were alone.

"Yeah, we're alone so let's talk."

He looked at me like he didn't know what I was talking about.

"Don't play dumb, Unc." I told him. "It's beneath you."

"Really?" He chuckled. "You know me that well."

"Enough to know something been eating at you," I countered. "And it's got to do with me."

He looked like he had been caught and I took advantage of that. "Just tell me."

"Jasper…" He sighed. Yeah something was up and I wasn't going to like it.

I decided to feed him some lines and see if he'd bite. "I know you think I'm a lovesick fool for Bella and she's going to put me in my grave eventually."

She probably would. But I loved her.

Carlisle's glance told me he thought I was right about that. Bella was going to get me killed. But he was mistaken. I had enough enemies who wanted that just because of who I am. Aro, for one, if he didn't believe the lie about me dying, was going to after me. He loved to fuck with me while I was growing up and now I knew he was doing that shit because he truly hated my dad, his so called friend and he wanted my mother. So me and Michael were the bane of his existence. He got rid of my little brother, my friends and most of who I held dear. I couldn't afford to let it happen again so Carlisle was going to speak the hell up!

"Carlisle…you can talk to me."

"I don't know if you will want to talk to me after this." He chuckled nervously.

"Okay, you scared of nothing. What's with the act?!"

He pulled a chair out and took a seat. He just sat there, staring at me and then looking off before he finally scoffed and started. "You've put me in a dangerous position with your woman, you know?"

"How so?" I was curious to know.

"She'll want kill me after she learns the truth."

"About?"

He didn't answer that. He went on. "He wanted you dead. Really dead. I think he's got a thing for Bella. She's not responsive to it and he probably thinks getting rid of you would prove his power since he knows you wouldn't sign up for what he wants you to do."

It had to do with Agent Collins.

"That's right," I replied. "I know what he wants and it doesn't just have to do with me acting like snitch for him."

"No, it doesn't," Carlisle said in agreement.

"He wants my contacts." I surmised, knowing exactly what Demetri was really after. My little black book you could call it. He wanted to know about my arms dealers, my contacts and my customers from around the country and overseas. I would never give him that. I would never give them up. I wasn't going to bring that heat on my family for him. I knew the people I worked with and what they were capable of. I even knew some who would have come to my aide while I was in prison but I let things played out as they should. I wasn't going to reach out to them unless it was absolutely necessary.

"Why didn't you do it?" I knew my uncle. He was one of the best killers. If he wanted to kill me, there were a million ways he could have already done it.

Carlisle laughed. "And have Bella fucking Swan hunting me down to skin me alive?!"

"You're afraid of her?" I smirked.

"So much so I have decided to teach her how to 'clean'." He smiled. "I don't think it was one of my wisest decisions. I might be getting too old for this shit."

"You're kidding me, right?" I had to laugh. He must be crazy. "You mean she is learning how to clean a kitchen or a whole fucking house! What the hell you mean you're teaching her how to clean?!" My body started screaming in pain and I was sure my blood pressure was rising as I stared him down with cold eyes. Carlisle didn't flinch though. He tried to reason with me through my anger.

"I don't want her to be like you." I sneered.

"She wants to learn and it's her decision, not yours." He countered.

"No!"

"It's not your decision," he said calmly.

I closed my eyes for a minute. It felt like my chest was going to explode. I wanted to kill Banner again. His attack made me feel like this. This weak inside. I couldn't do the things I wanted to do right away. I still had to heal.

Why would Bella want to learn how to get rid of people like how Carlisle did? Who was she after?

Shit! As soon as I thought the question I realized the answer. It hit me like a ton of bricks and my eyes popped open with the most obvious reason.

Demetri Collins.

She was going to find some way to go after him. And with Carlisle's talent, she wouldn't have to worry about it coming back to haunt her. He would be gone without a trace. I knew my uncle's work all too well. I knew how good the bastard was. How cold. And fuck if I wanted the mother of my children having that guilt on her shoulders. I know Bella had done other things that will probably haunt her, but nothing as bad as Carlisle.

Like I said, I knew my uncle.

"Collins, huh?" I asked.

Carlisle smiled at my revelation.

"Which brings me back to the previously asked question, since he wants me dead and wanted you to do it, why didn't you?" I said to my uncle.

He looked hurt but he covered it well. "You think it would be so easy?!" He exploded at me. "You thought it would be easy for me to kill a kid I loved like my own boy? You think I could just end you like that?"

I was a little taken aback at the amount of care in his tone. He was usually old and filled with sarcasm and anger. "I don't know. Sometimes, it was hard to guess how you feel about people, Uncle Carlisle."

"Since I kill 'em?" He smirked, calming down a bit.

"Yeah." I chuckled.

"Kid, Demetri Collins wanted you dead," he said. "Charlie Swan is in over his head. He thinks he can handle the little bastard but he can't. I have worked with better fucking spies than Demetri before. I don't usually deal with spineless, conniving little fucks like him."

"The whole thing with hating Bella…"

"It's for show," Carlisle finished for me. "That guy loves his kid. He's proud of her, but Collins…he's got…" He hesitated.

"He what?" I rushed out with anger.

"Calm the fuck down! " Carlisle warned. "You want to fuck around and get a stroke?"

"What's going on?" I shouted, even though I knew. I just wanted to know what my uncle knew. "I don't give a fuck about a stroke! Tell me what's going on!"

He shook his head at me disapprovingly but I didn't care. This was my life he was talking about and Collins was toying with it. I was going to hurt that piece of shit really bad!

"Fine!" Carlisle growled. "The short of it is, I poisoned you."

That made me stubble back and drop into the seat in front of him. So my uncle was capable of killing me and he was going to do it for Collins.

"Stop thinking I'm doing it for Collins," he said as if he was reading my mind. "I poisoned your mind. I'm not going to let him in there, Kid. I know how you are. I know you're good at remembering shit. I know you hardly wrote important shit down instead you stored it in your head," he continued. "Demetri has been studying you for a while. I think he sees breaking you as a way up the ladder for him. He has been spying on you even before Bella entered your life."

"Before Mexico?"

Bella entered my life in Mexico when I played a role in saving her from the trap Banner had let her walk into.

He thought for a second. "No. Not that far back. But far enough to know some shit about you." He sighed. "Collins came to me after he came to see you in prison and offered you that job to work for him as snitch. He brought Charlie along but while he and I talked, Charlie went to see the girls, angering Bella."

"Demetri told her what he wanted from me?"

"Yeah. He was proud to. He even tried to tell her you and the guys in prison must've been really friendly."

That motherfucker! No one would dare fuck with me like that.

"He did, huh?" I laughed.

"Yeah he did."

"Stupid bitch." I chuckled darkly. "No one dared to fuck with me like that."

Carlisle watched me while he calmly explained what else transpired during their meeting. He said that Demetri made his request for me to feed him with information in exchange for my freedom and after I refused, he saw no need for me. And he wanted to punish Bella. He thought Carlisle should be the one to do it, but my uncle had other plans.

"I wasn't going to kill you." He shared. "So I had to come up with a way to keep you around but just out of Demetri's reach. Especially your mind. I knew of a serum that would help me and with a little help from my own suppliers, I got my hands on it."

I hated what was about to happen to me but I wasn't going into without knowing what to expect so I forced Carlisle to explain and he did.

"He might still want me dead."

"Maybe but I won't let it happen," Carlisle said.

"So you came up with an eccentric way for me to stick around?"

I would be here but then I wouldn't be here. I would around in body but my memories would be gone. I won't even remember my name.

"That was your big plan?" I asked sarcastically. "I would around but I couldn't remember anyone!" I was beyond pissed at him, at myself and at the whole fucking situation. I thought I was out. I thought…no, I shouldn't have thought it would be easy to just be with Bella and our kids. I had to know that someone would fuck with us. I just didn't anticipate it would be my uncle.

I got up from the table and headed for the front door. His voice stopped me. "I'm sorry, Jasper."

I turned to him wanting to beat his ass into the ground but realizing I couldn't do it. I didn't even want to touch him right now. If I put my hands on my uncle, I wouldn't stop until he was dead.

"Sorry…" I said lowly, my anger tethering on the edge of my sanity. "I'm about to forget everything. In a way that's a good thing but then there is my life. My family, friends, Bella and my daughters. I'm about to forget it all before I can even form good memories of my kids!" Carlisle was silent. "You say you did it to save me and I thank you for thinking of me and I love you, but you have fucked me over worse than anyone has ever had. Don't you see how this won't affect Demetri? He wants Bella and she might so pissed at us and feel so betrayed that she's going to say yes to him. I know it. And you hadn't factor in the possibility of him just killing me because I am about to become useless to him. You think it might make him leave me alone but I doubt it. If he lets me live then he is going to use me to add to Bella's debt to him. You've screwed us, Uncle Carlisle."

I couldn't even be angry anymore. I was genuinely sad while Carlisle was pissed. "You were going to die! He was going to use whatever you'd give him and then he would've arrange your death. I saved you!"

"Good. Now you're gonna keep your mouth shut about it and let me break it to Bella."

I walked out of the cabin ahead of him. Carlisle followed me outside. The car he drove up here was parked out front and without asking, I opened the door to the passenger side and got in. He drove us down from the cabin and through the town. I took my time enjoying the scenery as we went along. I was quiet. There was nothing else to say. If I tried to talk to him, it would only end up with fists flying.

I wasn't sad anymore. I was pissed off and agitated.

We drove out of town and after a while the gates to the compound came into view. Carlisle slowed in front of the gates as they opened for him when he pressed the button signaling them to on the side of the steering wheel. Emmett had to be the one who wired the whole fucking place with security measures. Edward said he was working with the Brits as a government hacker. Rosalie was watching out for him.

Carlisle came to a stop in front of what I assume was the main house and I was almost nervous to get out of the car but I did. Walking up the steps, I took a deep breath and opened the door and stepped inside. An immediate feeling of peace came over me as soon as I walked further into the spacious living area. I spotted Edward out of the corner of my eye as he made his ay from what I assume as the kitchen.

"What the hell?" he said as he came over and we hugged for a brief moment. "They're upstairs," he said when he pulled away. I didn't need to be told twice. I made my way toward the stairs, taking them to at a time until I was at the top. But before I had left downstairs, I heard Edward asking Carlisle what was wrong. I didn't look back or cared how Carlisle would answer. Time was precious. Whatever he had given me could take an affect at any moment and I didn't know if I would even remember how to wipe my own ass when it finally did.

I spotted Leah before she saw me. She looked good. I saw the ring on her finger and it made me a little jealous that I hadn't married Bella yet. I wondered how fast we could do it before I forgot her.

Leah saw me and she lit up. She was excited to see me up and about. She let out a surprised gasp before she calmly said, "Hey, Boss."

I nodded. "Hey."

"Looking good," Leah said. Bella heard us and I could feel her eyes on us as I stepped close enough to the room so she could see me. A room I assume was my daughters' room.

"You too."

Leah had tears in her eyes as she brushed passed me, gripping my shoulder in encouragement as she went by.

Turning my attention to Bella, I saw her there standing there rocking the baby in her arms while our little girl made the cutest little noises in a room I could only describe as the most beautiful room I had ever seen. It was like something out of a fairy tale with the pink hue and whites throughout it. Walking in, I loved being in there. I could see myself spending a lot of time in this room.

That thought felt like a punch to the gut because I doubt I would even remember why babies were around me.

I wanted to kill Demetri Collins! I could feel my anger rising but I wouldn't explode. I have been craving this moment too much to mess it up. Going further into the room, I walked up to Bella. The baby's head was lying on her shoulder while she rocked her. She was so beautiful. They both were. I went over to them and placed a gentle hand on my daughter's back. I felt so nervous. I don't think I had ever been this nervous about anything in my life. What if she hated me touching her?

"I thought you were asleep," Bella commented.

"I should be but I've been feeling better and I wanted this to be a surprise."

"I'm surprised." She smiled.

My daughter's little eyes were opened and I saw the blue of mine staring back at me. Her little head wobbled a little and it was cute. It was like she was silently asking who the hell I was and why I was touching her. Good. I wanted my baby to be defensive. We had gotten off on a good foot already. I hoped her sister was the same.

I was taking in their appearances. The little baby in Bella's arms' head was covered in brown, luxurious hair like her's and peeking into the crib to my right, I saw the other baby from the pictures Bella had shown me while I was in prison. Her eyes were closed but she had blonde hair like mine. They both looked so healthy and…I doubt I'd stop saying this word, beautiful.

When I thought about forgetting everything before me in this room it made me want to pull Bella close. I drew closer to her. She met my eyes. "These are your daughters," she said to me with a smile. I leaned in and smelled the baby's hair before kissing her forehead. Pulling away, I took a deep breath, happy that I had succeeded. I had surprised Bella with my recovery and I was home. The rest could wait. It wouldn't be for long because I didn't know how soon I would look at Bella and not recognize her. But I wasn't saying anything right now. I just wanted to enjoy this moment with my family.

"Welcome home," she said and I did feel like I was finally home.


	10. Chapter 10

_**Chapter Ten: Memory**_

 _ **Jasper, February, 2007**_

We slammed into the wall beside the door of the cabin. The need to be out of these clothes and with Bella in the most intimate way was blinding me with need and rage that the damn door wasn't open yet. She had given me the key to open it but her lips on my neck were making me forget how to open a damn lock!

Finally, I got it open and we stumbled inside with our lips fused together. She was making quick work of my shirt whenever she pulled away while I got out her blouse and the ridiculous thing called a bra. I fucking hated it. I wanted to burn all her bras so I would always have access to her round breasts and perk nipples that were teasing me mercilessly at the moment until I satisfied my thirst by pulling one of her rosy nipples into my mouth and sucking on it like my life depended on it.

She moaned and grinded her taut body against mine making my cock rage against the seam of my jeans. I wanted to free him before he fucking exploded and ruin everything for me.

How many nights since I have been away from Bella did I dream about having her like this? Wanton and ready for me. Now I had her in my arms, I wasn't about to waste it.

We made it to the bedroom after slamming our way through the hall. I was happy to see the bed and made my way to it, throwing her down on it and crawling on top of her. She reached for my jeans, snapping the button and pushing her hand down the front, gripping my hardened cock and giving it a squeeze.

"Ahh! Shit, Bella!" I cursed as she jerked it. It felt so damn good! She smiled deviously at me and did it again, making me grind into her palm and her heated center.

I slammed my lips down on hers, making her moan as she practically ate my mouth like an animal devouring it's favorite meal.

Fuck! She missed me as much as I missed her.

We weren't thinking about tomorrow. I wasn't thinking about what Carlisle did to me and how right he thought it was. I didn't know how I was going to tell Bella. Hell, I understood what he was saying when he explained it to me, saying my condition would be temporary and it would just be for a little while as he didn't give me a strong dose.

I told him I didn't know things like that existed. He said I'd be surprised at what did exist.

So in his eyes once the effects wore off everything would be back to normal for me. It felt a little better to know I wasn't going to forget everything forever. Bella and my kids and everyone weren't going anywhere from my mind permanently. This was just temporary.

It was slightly relieving, but I was too angry at him to give a shit enough to let him it wouldn't be all that bad.

The fact of the matter is he shouldn't have done it. I would have found some way to hide my contacts and information from Demetri. I wouldn't have fucked with my mind like that. I wouldn't have gone to that extreme. When my uncle was talking to me about it before we left the cabin the morning I was about to meet my kids for the first time, he sounded like a mad scientist.

Bella pushed me on my back and climbed on top of me, effectively making me forget about what I knew I had to tell her when I stared at the incredibly beautiful creature sitting astride me topless and fucking sexy.

She kissed and sucked her way down my bare chest taking time to suck on my damn nipples, making my toes curl. Shit! The things her mouth did to me. And when she languidly made her way down to my Promised Land, I almost had a heart attack from joy when her mouth closed around the bulbous head of my dick and she began to suck.

I groaned and grabbed onto her hair, grasping it as I gasped for air while she sucked the life out of me. I was in heaven.

I felt like my head was about to cave in from the intense feeling of Bella's mouth wrapped around me that I had to stop her.

"Baby, stop, stop..."

"Why?" Her sultry voice said.

Why? What was I saying again?

"I wanna be inside you."

We switched places. I threw her down on the bed making quick work of her jeans and offensive underwear. God! I hate those. If I could have her somewhere where they wouldn't necessary for a while, I'd be a happy guy. We didn't wait. We didn't stop to ask if either one of us was okay or some shit. Bella took control, switching places again and throwing me down on the bed. She languidly and maddeningly placed me at her entrance and slowly impaled herself on my member.

It was the sweetest torture I had ever gone under.

The woman did things to me.

We got lost in the intimate dance of mating after that. Meaning I fucked the living daylights out of her. We were all over the place. There was no safe place in the room. We screwed each other on the bed, on the floor, against the wall, the door, the dresser, on the chair, broke a lamp and so on.

By the time we stopped, we were limps and legs intertwined and breathing as if we had been running a damn marathon.

I think I pulled something in my side but it was pain I wouldn't trade for anything after getting to do what I dreamed about doing for many nights.

We fell asleep right there on the floor.

I woke up to Bella talking on the phone.

"Are they okay?" she whispered. "I left milk and I…yeah, everything is fine. Yes, Leah, I'll shut up and stop bugging you now. I was just checking." She was laughing as she hung up the phone.

"Leah ran you off the phone?" I asked, sitting up. My body was in pain and I was trying to be cute about it but Bella caught the discomfort on my face.

"I'm sorry," she said, crawling over to me like a cat. That shit was going to get me and her in trouble. "And yes, Leah wants me to shut up and have fun. She says I deserve it so calling her to check on the kids is a violation of that rule for the night."

Leah was more than happy to babysit when I mentioned wanting to take Bella out on a date earlier. She had grown attached to her god kids and loved spending time with them. I think Edward should watch out because my bodyguard's got baby fever. I could see in her eyes. She wanted to be a mom. Leah was always protective and nurturing by nature. She just happened to be good at keeping assholes like me alive too.

"I like that rule." I groaned as Bella crawled up my body and started nibbling on my neck while her hand glided across my thigh.

"Do you?" I flipped her on her back and placed myself between her thighs.

"Exactly," she said, slapping me on my ass.

Yeah, it was on.

I fucked her again and when I woke up with Bella gone.

I got up and found my pants, putting them on. She must have gone to the kitchen. We had been going at it since we got here after leaving our dinner in town a little early.

Bella was in the kitchen making sandwiches and humming to herself.

"Hey!" She smiled when she saw me. "There's always food here. I keep it stocked. Want a ham and cheese sandwich? I would have cooked us a steak but I didn't want to leave it unattended and end up burning the place down because we left to fool around." She laughed a little to herself after saying that.

I didn't answer at first. I just stood there watching her. Taking in how beautiful she was. Regretting what will happen to me soon from what Carlisle had done. I mean that shit was supposed to happen only in spy movies. I didn't even stop to think spies in real life would have access to drugs like that.

"Yeah, I think you're right," I finally said. "Sandwiches are safer because I don't want to be away from you for too long right now. I wanna remember tonight and how great I feel being here with you for as long as I can."

Bella finished making the sandwiches and went for two beers. She gestured for me to join her at the table and I did sans a shirt because she was wearing it and her panties.

We sat down to eat and I finished before her. She took her time while watching me keenly. I felt a little nervous under her stare.

"What's bothering you?" she asked when her sandwich was gone. She didn't give me time to answer, she went on. "It's been a week since you've home and you're different. I gave it time because I thought it was probably a little frightening being thrust back into your life on the outside. But then I remember going to prison wasn't uncommon to you. So what's the difference this time?"

"Leaving you behind," I said, trying to avoid telling her the truth right now.

"You're back and do me the favor of not bullshitting me, Jasper."

Shit!

"I'm not!" I said, getting up and leaving her in there. I was a coward. I was running away and I knew it. I should be talking but I couldn't find the right words to say. We had been through so much already and now this?

Bella followed me into the bedroom, chuckling. "The fact that you're running away tells me I'm on to something."

"I don't wanna talk about it."

"Is it another girl?"

I looked at her like she was crazy. "What other fucking girl? I love you."

She was unmoved. She was like a dog in search of a bone. A part of me loved that about her. How invasive she could be and I knew she wasn't going to stop digging until she got to the truth.

"I love you too," she replied. "So is it another guy then?"

"You know some guy would smack you for saying crap like that," I said to her.

She laughed. "I'd love to see you try."

Fuck! Her challenge excited me.

"No, Bella." I answered, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. She was standing by the door, leaning against the frame with her arms folded over her chest while her eyes were fixed on me, taunting and probing for the truth I didn't want to share with her yet but was finding it hard to not reveal it to her. "No one exists but you."

"Then what is it?"

"You're not gonna let this go, are you?" I scoffed.

"No." She smiled. "Something is bothering you and I want you to trust me to help you."

"I…I do trust you."

She sighed and pushed off the doorframe coming to sit beside me. "Then tell me what's wrong." She took one of my hand in hers, caressing it as she showed me that she was here for me.

This was harder than I thought it would be. I ran a hand through my hair in frustration. I didn't want to tell her this right now but she deserved to know.

She looked at me expectantly and the words just seem to find their way out of my mouth. "I know you remember what happened at the prison."

"Yes…" she said sounding unsure of where I was going with this.

"Do you remember Carlisle giving me anything?" Maybe I wasn't doing this the right way but I wanted to see if she could figure it out without me saying too much. I thought it would be probably hurt her less if she saw that Carlisle did it for a good reason. I couldn't see it. I was too mad at him. Maybe Bella would find some way to see the bright side of this because I didn't.

"We brought you to the sick bay and Carlisle was there with two nurses working for Billy Black," she said with a laugh. "Shit, I just realized how fucking illegal I had gone to get you out of there."

She bumped my shoulder with hers in jest but I could only force a laugh. Bella caught it. "Seriously, what is this about?"

"Bella, I know a lot."

"Okay." She replied with curiosity etched across her face. "What does that have to do with this?"

"It's why we are in this situation."

"And what situation are we in?" Bella asked.

I sighed. "I know a lot, in the sense that, I have a lot of contacts that I can't let people like Demetri Collins know about. These are some serious people, baby. They would kill their mothers for their businesses. As an arms dealer, I traveled the world and met with some type of people that belong in the fucking dark because of how cruel they are but I couldn't judge them. I wasn't far behind."

"I know and you're nothing like them," she said with conviction.

I looked at her with a stunned expression. "What do you mean you know?"

Bella scoffed at my question. "I am going to protect you from Demetri, Jasper. I know you. I know all about you. I didn't come into your life without knowing all I needed to about who you were and who you dealt with. That would be valuable information to Demetri. So I can't let him get his hands on you."

She went on to tell me about the plans she has for teaching me to con Federal Agents and spies like Demetri.

"I was raised well, Jasper." She smiled. "I know the inner workings of agencies like the FBI and CIA. I can teach you how to survive both." She paused and sighed. When she spoke again, she sounded sad as she gripped my hand for support. I liked how she wasn't pulling away from me. She was willing to let me be here for her. "I have to go and work with him. I don't know how that is going to work out but I need you here protecting our life, our family."

"I'm not going anywhere."

I shouldn't say that but I couldn't think of anything else to say after she placed her trust in me.

I got up, breaking our contact. Bella looked confused but covered it. "What's wrong?"

"Bella…when Carlisle was saving me, he injected me with something." I didn't look at her. I looked everywhere else but in her eyes for more than brief seconds. It didn't matter as I went on, I could see the anger rising in hers.

"Something like what?"

"A serum of some kind."

"Why?" Bella said menacingly.

"I…"

"What will it do and why did he give you anything?" She demanded to know. She was on her feet now and standing in front of me as I leaned on top of the dresser.

"Demetri wanted me dead after I refused his offer," I said.

"I know that!" Bella shouted. "I know he would want you for information and I'm not about let him use you!"

I could see the truth in her eyes. "So what does Carlisle have to do…" She stopped herself. "Demetri wanted Carlisle to take you out?!" I nodded. "And he kept it from me." I wanted to talk but she kept going. "He didn't bother to tell me what was going on. He just let me switch Edward with him. He wanted access to you. Why and what kind of serum are we talking about? What will it do?"

I answered her questions as she listed them. "Yeah, he wanted access to me so he didn't tell you what was going on. He took matters into his own hands and acted on his own. He said he wanted to protect me."

"By doing what?" She was furious. Her eyes widening in anger as she stared at me.

It was dumb, but maybe if I gave her Carlisle's reason and advice first. "What he gave me…it's temporary. It won't last forever. It's just to counter what he knows from inside knowledge is coming. He's got a contact hanging around Demetri."

"A mole?"

"Yes."

 _Who was your dad._

"This person told him that Demetri had plans for me. He's planning on taking me in since I'm not dead like he ordered Carlisle to do."

"Taking you in and what?" she spat. "Interrogating you? Scare you out of information that could get you killed?"

"Yes."

"So Carlisle wanted to 'protect' you so much, he did something that you're afraid to tell me." She surmised. "What does the serum do?"

"Bella, it's temporary. It's gonna come back."

"What's gonna leave that it needs to come back?" She pushed.

"My memory."

There. I told her. It was out in the open.

For a second, I thought it would be okay. She would pace the room. Ask questions. Got mad. Grew sad and I'd console her. I would remind her that Carlisle did this so he could keep me alive and useless to Demetri's plans.

Well, it didn't go that way.

Bella stepped away from me. She was moving at rapid speed as she picked up her stuff and was out of the bedroom with me trailing behind her.

"Bella, what are you doing?"

She didn't answer. She cut her eyes at me as she threw off my shirt, pulled on her pants and grabbed her own top and thrust it on before storming toward the front door. I didn't have time to grab my boots. I just grabbed up my shirt and ran out the door behind her, slamming it shut. She was already in the car and started it. She was about to drive off when I jumped into the passenger's seat and she pulled out of the driver way.

I put my shirt on while trying to talk to her, but she wasn't even answering. She was focused on getting to her destination and I knew things were going to blow up when she got there.

A part of me regretted telling her and another part was glad I did.

We reached the compound in no time and Bella grabbed a gun from under her seat, threw her door open, and raced out of the car before I could stop her.

"Bella, stop!" I shouted as I got out and ran after her. "Goddamn it! Stop!" I yelled, feeling damn winded as I tried to catch up with her. I was in pain, but to hell with that. I had to catch her and stop her.

As I chased her I realized she wasn't going to the main house. That was Carlisle's place and the lights were on. He only had them on when he was home which hasn't been for a while as he had been avoiding us since he told me what he did. Bella had found it strange and I guess as she ran to his place she realized now why he was doing that.

She got to the door before me and kicked it in. Carlisle must have had it unlocked. Bella stormed in and I could hear shots being fired before I got the opened door.

"Get out here, you piece of shit!" She screamed, firing a few more rounds at the couch in the corner. Carlisle must be behind there. "I'm going to make you come out."

"What is going on?" Edward ran up behind me and said. "What is she doing? Bella, stop!"

She didn't care about us.

"Where's Leah?" I asked him.

"With the kids!" Edward told me then screamed at Bella. "That's my father in there!"

"Stay out of it!" Carlisle yelled from inside over Bella's bullets singing through the air as she tried to get him to come out.

Then she stopped and turned to us. My eyes widened. I knew what she was thinking. She ran out of the house and I tried to block her path from Edward but she made her way around me. Edward tried to stop her, but she was too cunning for him and she quickly overpowered him and held him hostage as she told Carlisle, "Either you come out here and tell me why you fucked me over or you come out here and clean up his brain!"

Emmett came running over. "What the hell?!"

Rosalie was behind him. "Bella, stop it!" I hardly ever heard Rose use Bella's name. She looked terrified while Bella looked ready to kill.

I didn't even know they were here.

"Bella, please, stop…" I pleaded with her. "He said it will be okay. I will be okay. It's not leaving forever."

"What's leaving?" Rosalie asked.

Before anyone could answer her, I saw red beam aimed at her chest. Carlisle was at his door and Bella yanked Edward's head back by his hair.

"You touch my son, you lose more than Jasper's memory," Carlisle threatened her. "You lose Rosalie!"

Emmett jumped in front of Rosalie with his gun out and pointed in Carlisle's direction.

It was a fucking standoff.

Damn, I should have waited to tell her. I couldn't let it go down like this.

"Alright!" I shouted, going to stand in the line of fire. "Both you of you, take your fucking fingers off the trigger!"

Bella stood her ground as did Carlisle.

"I'm not kidding around with either of you!" I demanded. "Lower the guns now!"

We all stood in a suspended silence until Carlisle lowered his sniper and secured the safety.

I looked at Bella who was still holding Edward. "Bella?" I said calmly. "Please drop it. We'll talk about it. I swear. Just let Edward go."

I don't know what it was in my voice but she let go of Edward and stepped out from behind him. She walked up, stopping right beside me. She looked at Carlisle with rage in her eyes. "I went through so much. You were there. You know this. And when I'd expected Collins or my father or Aro to take him from me, it turned out to be you!" She screamed. "You fuck!"

None of us said a word.

"Do you know what you've done?!" She shouted. "Do you realize the position you've put us in?!"

"Bella, we should talk about this inside," I said, grabbing onto her hand but she flashed me off, glaring at me as she growled in my direction. "And you knew."

She turned her attention back to Carlisle. "You…you goddamn bastard!"

Bella walked away, heading to the main house. I followed her.

"What do you mean, 'I knew'?"

She spun around to me. "You knew and you didn't say anything! You looked into my eyes and you lied to me!" She screamed at me. "Stay the hell away from me!"

She stormed off again and I followed close behind. She stopped and turned to me like she had come to some sort of realization. "Is this a family thing? Is this Carlisle's way of saying I'm not family because he didn't need to poison you to tell me that! I know the bastard hates me!" She shouted over my shoulder. I glance back to see Carlisle, Emmett and the others following us. Leah was a lot closer to Bella than me so she ran up to Bella.

They stopped at the front door and I don't know what Leah whispered to her but she gave Leah her gun before walking into the house. I walked in behind them, and the others followed.

I thought Bella would want to talk and stop in the living room but she forewent that and headed for the stairs. She climbed them without a single glance back at us. I watched her until she was out of sight.

Emmett had a lot to say and was apparently waiting on Bella to make her exit.

"What the hell is going on?" He wanted to know. "Why does Bella think she's not a part of this family? Why did Carlisle give you some drug that will make you forget everything?"

"Temporarily," Carlisle emphasized. "It will only be for a while."

"And a lot can happen in a while!" Leah countered. "You live this life with us. You know how fucked things can get. Jasper's got enemies. What will happen if one of them decided to find him and he can't remember the bastard? Oh shit…" Leah gasped. "Can he even remember how to kill?"

Carlisle was cornered and I didn't care. I felt like shit because I had hurt the one person who meant the most to me.

When we fell for each other, I knew what I was getting her into. Now after all she has done, this wrong move by Carlisle made her feel like an outsider who had done nothing at all.

I couldn't let it happen. I refuse to give in to whatever was about to happen to me. I would remember them. I would fight this…for my family…for my Bella.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Chapter Eleven: Loss**_

 _ **Bella, February, 2007**_

I handed my gun over to Leah and walked into the house without looking back at any of them. I felt hurt and betrayed. I didn't stop walking until I was in my girls' room with the door closed and locked behind me. There, I collapsed to the floor and cried. I wouldn't show any of them by weakness because apparently I couldn't trust them.

Was I really still alone?

I had lived my whole life this way; feeling alone. Yes, I had siblings who loved me and while I loved them unconditionally, I always felt like Jamie and Rosie were better at living life than I was.

And Rosie still could. Her having Emmett in her life was living proof in the fact.

Yeah, I knew I had Jasper, but right now, I felt alone and betrayed by even him.

He could have told me. The minute he found out what Carlisle did, why didn't he tell me? He had so many opportunities to tell me what was going on, for days now, and he chose not to.

I wanted to kick his ass for it.

What? Jasper didn't think I need to know that the man I loved was about to forget me? Who gave a shit if it was temporary or not, Carlisle took the decision out of our hands so he could play God with Jasper's life and say he was doing what was best for him. He didn't respect us. He didn't respect me. He hated me and this alone proved it.

I was sure Demetri was in on this. He had to be. They were probably going to take Jasper in and feed him a bunch of bullshit about everyone being his enemy once his memory went away.

Sitting in the rocking chair in the girls' room wasn't bringing me the peace I thought it would. I got up, unlocked the door and got out, quietly closing it behind me. Thankfully they were sleeping through mommy's turmoil.

I went downstairs where there was a loud commotion with arguments going back and forth. I took a seat on the bottom of the steps and just watched them all in the living room. Carlisle was the first to spot me and then everyone else noticed my presence and the arguments died down.

I got up and approached him. Edward grew rigid. He probably thought I was going kill his dad in front of him and I couldn't say the thought wasn't crossing my mind. He was a despicable bastard.

"What?" I said to Edward before I walked to the middle of the room avoiding looking at Jasper even though I could feel his presence behind me and sat on the coffee table Indian style facing Carlisle. "So how does it work?" I asked calmly.

"What do you mean?" Carlisle asked me.

"We're past that," I said to him. "You've fucked it up already in your favor, so spare me the crap and tell me how it works. Is his memories ever coming back or is it permanent?" I knew they were saying it wasn't permanent but I wanted to hear it from the horse's mouth.

"It's temporary," Carlisle answered.

"Why did you do it?"

"To protect him even from himself," he said without missing a beat. "There are things you don't know and not because you two had a little romance and figured out how to use your body parts and make kids makes you entitled to any damn explanation from me!" Carlisle shouted leaving the room baffled. I could feel Jasper's eyes piercing into Carlisle's and the twinge of fear that passed through Carlisle's said Jasper was mad at what he just said.

"Hmm…" I shrugged. "So everything I have done so far is because I was horny for your nephew? Your measly little brain never registers it as love or me wanting to protect what I now saw as family? To you, I'm an outsider and since I'm Aro's kid, it makes me the enemy." I didn't give him a minute to speak. I just went on, "I'm my own person, Carlisle. I love Jasper and I love my babies. I never thought I'd have anything close to them but now that I do, I'll protect them from anything and anyone. So you think you're the best…" I got up now, and Emmett and Edward were drawing closer as they anticipate what I'd do next. "But you haven't even begun to know what it is like to deal with someone like me. I'm not your average moron, you bastard. You fucked with the wrong bitch!"

I moved toward him and I felt strong arms around my waist, holding me back while Jasper whispered in my ear. I could easily push him away, not wanting to deal with him but I didn't. I let him take me from the room and we ended up in the office.

I stepped away from him as soon as he closed the door. He turned to face me. His features marred with anger.

For a second, I want to goad him. I want to make him as mad as I feel.

"Are you going to tell me that I'm wrong for threatening your uncle?" I said. "Are you going to scold me?"

He looked at me like I'd grown two heads. "Mad at you for what? You didn't do this to me."

The hurt in his voice hit me hard. "Why? Why did he have to do this?" I didn't want to break down in front of him but I couldn't help it. I broke down and Jasper was right there to take me into his arms and let me cry.

"I'm so sorry."

"What if something goes wrong and you never come back?" I cried.

He couldn't answer me because he didn't have the answer.

"I have to find the antidote." I pushed him away and stepped away.

"Bella…" Jasper started but I wasn't listening. The tears were drying up and the wheels were turning. I could do this without Carlisle's input. He got this serum from the CIA. Demetri had to be involved somehow. This had to be a way to make Jasper subject able to him and his crap. And if he wasn't then this was some way I could use to get Jasper back and screw that bastard over so he would leave us alone. Permanently if I had anything to say about it.

"There has to be someone else who can help me," I said aloud. "In the mean time, I need you to do something for me."

"What's that?"

"Don't forget."

I called Leah into the office because she was the only one I wanted to trust right now. I told her what I needed and she agreed. I didn't mean to talk around Jasper like he wasn't in the room but to hell with it, I was doing this for him.

"You want me to make videos?" Jasper asked as Leah and I set things up with Emmett's help in the office. I was doing this now. We weren't going to waste any time. I didn't get why the serum hadn't fully affected Jasper as yet and I wasn't taking any more chances. We have already wasted so much time. He could wake up tomorrow and not remember a thing.

"Yes," I said. "Think of it as a journal. It's to help you remember key moments and important things you don't want to forget."

"I get that," Jasper said. "But why are you leaving the room?"

"Because they are things you probably don't want me to know as yet."

Jasper chuckled. "Things you have already snooped around about and found out. You said you knew of me before you walked into the door, Bella."

I smiled and he gave me a heartwarming smile that made my heart skip a beat. "Yeah, but I think it's better this way."

I left the office as Leah and Emmett began.

Rosie and I waited outside before we moved to the girls' room. They were awake and needed attention. My sister and I were quiet for a while until she broke the silence as we tend to the girls. "I'm sorry this is happening to you, Honey Bee."

Her words meant a lot to me. "Do you think I'll ever be happy?"

"You already are," she reassured me with a one armed hug.

The rest of the night was spent with me going over what to do next. Jasper made the videos with Emmett and Leah. Leah stayed over with us. She wasn't in the right frame of mind to be anywhere close to Carlisle and she didn't want to take it out on Edward. And by morning, the reason Jasper was given the serum because Carlisle felt so adamant to protect him was standing on the door step with a stupid smile o his lousy face.

"Good morning, Isabella," Demetri said as he crossed the threshold into the living room.

"What do you want?"

He laughed. "So snappy this morning."

"Say what you want and get out."

He turned and looked at me. "You know, I thought it was going to be a good day…" He paused, waiting on me to ask why. I just stood there staring at him. He smiled. "So I wanted Carlisle to kill Jasper, but he didn't." I wanted to be shocked but I wasn't. "Why is that?"

"Ask Carlisle."

"Are you sure this wasn't a part of your plan?"

"I had nothing to do with Carlisle doing whatever he didn't do."

"What would you have done if he had killed him?" Demetri pushed.

"Kill him," I said without hesitation.

Demetri laughed. "I like that about you, Isabella! So on point!"

I didn't say anything and he went on, "Well, since I can't have what I want and Whitlock is still breathing, then I'll do the next best thing. I'm going to take him in."

"For what?!" I pretend to be shocked. But I wasn't because I could see what Carlisle meant. Demetri wanted a rat and couldn't make one of Jasper so he was going to treat him like prey. He was going to take him in and see what he could get Jasper to say. This idiot truly believed he could get Jasper to crack. And Carlisle didn't trust Jasper not to, but I did. Jasper wasn't going to give Demetri anything but I couldn't help but wonder if this memory loss might help him right now.

"So you're here to take him in?" I asked Demetri.

"Exactly." He smiled as my dad walked into the room and the betrayal hit me hard. He couldn't have had any other agent do this. It had to be Charlie.

Rosie came downstairs and she looked at me not with guilt but in confidence. Since Demetri was using Charlie, I was sure Rosie would be involved and she said she was happy to be because she could keep a better eye on Jasper for me. She was happy I had him in my life and she wanted to help.

We had talked about it and our choices in men and in life last night. It was a meaningful conversation that told me my sister was on my side.

It was a look that said everything was going to be okay. She had Jasper with her. But he wasn't himself. I could see it and it made my heart sank. Gone was the confidence I recognized in his eyes to be replaced by uncertainty.

We had made those videos at the right time because my Jasper was…gone.

Demetri was unaware of this. "Whitlock, I'm here to take you in!" he said happily.

Rosie spoke softly to Jasper and he turned his attention to a suddenly perplexed looking Demetri. "What's wrong with him?"

Jasper spoke up, looking genuinely lost, before I could answer, "Who's Whitlock? Who are you people?"


	12. Chapter 12

_**Chapter Twelve: You can call me Esme**_

 _ **Bella, February, 2007**_

"Is anybody going to answer me?" Jasper asked.

I was shocked. I was genuinely shocked and thankfully that I'd suggested videos last night and he didn't object. I didn't know if it was fate being a twisted bitch but whatever it was, I knew from the confused to downright pissed off look on Demetri's face, I had just entered the fucking dragon and he was about to exploded.

"What the fuck is going on here?" He growled.

Jasper looked stunned by his reaction. Rosie looked pleased and I actually, in a messed up way, wanted to laugh my ass off. I was probably going over the deep end or it was from lack of sleep, but a small smile played across my lips and Demetri caught it.

"You think this is funny?" he asked as he stomped over to me. He towered over me trying to intimidate me while I just wanted to rip his tongue for even talking to me.

"A little bit." It was a small opportunity and I was going to pay for it later, because you always did when it came to assholes like these, but I just had to gloat about his predicament for a minute. He did not come here this morning expecting this.

He was furious and then he looked devious. "You're going to pay for whatever you did to him," Demetri threatened me then yelled. "Take him!" Charlie came over to a very confused Jasper and put his hands on him.

Jasper flashed him off. "Don't touch me!" He exclaimed. "I don't know you. Any of you! What is going on here?"

I went over to them. I bypassed my father, trying to be calm enough not to scare Jasper while I pleaded with him to co-operate.

"Jasper, listen…"

He cut me off. "Who are you?"

I ignored the urgency in his tone and spoke as calmly as I possibly could. Two other agents brought Carlisle into the house and I leveled him with a death glare. I didn't care about what Demetri did with him. I cut my eyes after him and focused my attention on Jasper. He looked scared and I hated it. This wasn't the man I knew. And in that moment, I secretly wished he was just pretending for Demetri's benefit and his memory wasn't gone and Carlisle wasn't a dick for hurting us like this.

But the lost look in Jasper's eyes said my fear was found. He really didn't remember me.

"These men are with the authorities and so am I," I said strongly. "We're here to keep you safe."

"Keep me safe?" He asked. "Why?"

I hated lying to him but I had to. Everyone was watching me especially Demetri who was waiting to see what I came up with before he dragged him out of here to interrogate him.

"You're a very important witness," I said.

"What?" Jasper sounded scared.

"Yes," Demetri added and I hated him for it. "You are vital to an ongoing investigation I have. I'm with the CIA. Your name is Jasper…" I wondered if he was going to tell him the truth. That he was Jasper Whitlock, one of the most feared gangsters and arms dealers out there and that he was here in hiding after escaping custody with my help. He had already been a vital witness, selling out some higher ups who would no doubt love to know that he was very vulnerable right now.

God! Another reason for me wanting to wipe the floor with Carlisle! What was he thinking?!

"Hale," Demetri finished with a devious smirk in my direction. "The woman in front of you is an agent and nothing more. She works for me. She's just here to make sure you stay alive. You mean absolutely nothing to each other."

My heart was being trampled on with every lie out of Demetri's mouth and I couldn't say otherwise. It would confuse Jasper and I could see him eating up Demetri's words about my supposed identity.

After Jasper trusted me enough to leave with Rosie, Charlie, Demetri and his agents, I watched them drive away while I was left feeling like nothing. Carlisle was standing beside me and before he could say anything, I turned and punched him in the face and then dropped his ass with a hard kick in the stomach. I didn't stop kicking him until Jake was pulling me off of him and dragging me inside the house, slamming the door shut like I yelled threats at an injured Carlisle. I would have killed him right there in the middle of the yard if someone hadn't stepped in and I hated my best friend for it.

"If you kill him who's going to bring Jasper's memory back?" Jake tried to reason with me. He was trying to make me see some worth in having Carlisle the asshole Cullen around but I couldn't and I refused to.

"I'll find another way."

"You're letting Demetri get to you."

"And you wouldn't?" I argued. "He walks in and drag the person you love out of your life after telling that person a bag of lies you know they will believe because they have no memory because of a dick of a man who loves to see people unhappy because nobody wants his fucked up ass did what he thought was necessary to protect family secrets that Demetri probably knows anyways!" I was going on without catching my breath. I felt lightheaded from my anger and frustration and I didn't care. I was thinking up ways to make Carlisle pay. "Now he has Jasper thinking that he is Jasper Hale, witness, and Leah and Edward and I are just here to protect him."

"What about the kids?" Jake asked.

That was what hurt me the most. "Before they left, Jasper asked about the babies and Demetri was more than happy to tell him they belonged to Edward and Leah," I said angrily. "I'm gonna kill him, Jake. I'm gonna kill 'em all. I have come too far."

"For them to fuck everything up," Jake said calmly and I wanted to hurt him.

"I'm thinking demolition!"

"I know!" He laughed. "But as much as I would love that. And you know I would. You don't get back at assholes like Demetri that way. You pull the rug out from under them and then you devour him whole."

That was some deceptive shit.

"I like it. As angry as I am and want to blow shit up, you're right. I like that." I really did. It made me stay calm enough to think. "Since you didn't believe in demolition only?"

Jake actually blushed.

"Oh." It was obvious since when. Since this new girl he was seeing. The one he would have watching me and Edward's backs while we were working for Demetri. "You got it from the girl you're seeing," I surmised. "The one on Demetri's team."

"She's amazing." Jake sighed, not denying it. "And she is more than the girl on Demetri's team," he said with a wink.

Well, that was interesting. "What do you mean?"

Jake wouldn't share. "You'll see."

Instead he chose to remain starry-eyed while he thought about his girl.

What Jake was true. I could beat this. I could get Jasper back to normal without letting any of these assholes know what I am up to. I would operate under their radar. Carlisle wanted to be an asshole. Fine. Demetri wanted to think he had me cornered. Okay. Charlie wanted to work for the bad guy. Screw it. Jasper was going to remember me and our life together. I was going to make sure of it.

I waited. I thought about what Jake said about taking things slow and coming up with a way to turn this shit on its head while I waited on Demetri to bring Jasper back. I didn't follow them. I could have. But I didn't. I wasn't going to escalate anything or cause trouble prematurely. I had to smart about it. I knew what I was dealing with. Who were my allies and who were my enemies.

Leah and Jake were ready to help me with anything. Edward. I was on the fence with him because he was Carlisle's kid. He could switch at any time and show devotion to his dad. Blood was thicker than water. Emmett might be in but it would be on the account of my sister and the fact that he saw Jasper as a brother and would do anything to protect him.

Charlie was out. He had sided with Demetri because he saw my relationship with Jasper as unhealthy and he wanted it over. He probably thought after we stormed Jasper's penthouse and caught Aro that would have been it. It would have been over for me. We had caught Jamie's killer but it wasn't the end. I had continued seeing Jasper and now we were parents to two little girls I could not see myself living without.

Demetri was as much an enemy as Aro. I didn't have to think about too much or force myself to hate him. It came naturally. He was deceptive, evil and out to get what he wanted at the expense of my family.

Aro, and my mother, Renee. What could I say about them? And what could I say about the woman who brought me into this world? She was supposed to love and protect me and my brother and sister but she chose a life with an insane bastard because she wanted to be a mob wife. She idolized Jasper's mom's life more than she loved us and Aro meant and still means more to her than anyone.

Aro. I didn't need to know any more about him than I already knew and I didn't want to understand him or why he existed in my life. I just wanted to get rid of him. I felt like the burden of being related to him will never go away until I got rid of him.

He will come for Jasper and me eventually. He hated to lose. From what I have learned about him, I knew that much. I also knew it because I was exactly same. I refused to lose.

There were things I wanted to know about my past. About my life. Things that were causing me to draw a blank but I didn't know who to go to fill them in. So far, everyone has had their own agenda when it came to information about my own life. All I have ever heard were half truths or nothing at all. Weren't you supposed to have something to past down to your kids? This wasn't what I wanted to give my girls. Half truths and lies. I wanted them to know the real me better than anyone.

Demetri brought Jasper back in the night. He didn't look too shaken but he was wary of Demetri as he walked into the house. I watched him as he silently climbed the stairs and disappeared around the corner leading to the bedrooms.

I turned to a smiling Demetri and before I could speak, he said, "You've got tomorrow and then I'll need you and Edward for a mission." He walked out without another word.

Leah and Edward came over. Edward told me Demetri told him we would be leaving the day after tomorrow. Leah wasn't ready for it. But she was trying to put her best face forward. She disappeared to go and check on the girls and Jasper. I hadn't gone after him since he came back. For some reason, I was scared to.

"I'm sorry for hurting your father." I blurted out after the silence between Edward and I got to be too much after Leah went upstairs.

Edward smirked. "No, you're not."

"I am not."

"Listen, he was wrong and he put us in a dangerous position," he said. "It was a dumb move in my opinion but for some reason the crazy bastard thought he was protecting Jasper."

"He thinks he knows the inner workings of who were dealing with more than anyone so he made a rash decision that nearly or probably buried us?" I countered.

Edward looked bashful. "Yeah," he mumbled. "I did say it was dumb."

"It was…and it was probably genius too."

Edward looked surprised by my admission and I was quick to cover my track. "Don't think I'll ever admit that to your father 'cause I think he hates me and I don't like him right now."

Edward laughed. "He doesn't. I think he's scared of you." I gave him a look. "Okay…maybe just a little."

We talked about what to expect when we reported for whatever duty Demetri had detailed us on. Most of the night passed that way, with Edward and I having a long talk about what was to come. He said his dad was off somewhere licking his wounds after I attacked him again. Edward was discreetly trying to make me understand his dad's motive for erasing Jasper's memory and while knowing Demetri couldn't get anything out of him in this state, I was still worried.

"What if it never comes back?" I said to him regarding Jasper's memory.

"There has to be a way, Bella." Edward tried to convince me. "My father wouldn't endanger Jasper like this for no reason or if there wasn't a way to help him. He loves Jasper too much. He's like a son to Dad. Trust me. He'd give his life for Jas."

In a way, his words were comforting.

The next morning passed without incident. Jasper sought me out. He wanted to know where I was. I told him I had slept in the girls' room. After that we were silent or a while. Jasper mostly watched me as I moved around busying myself so I wouldn't have to sit with him in the living room. But when I left him in there, heading to the kitchen, he followed.

He wanted to talk about the things Demetri had told him.

Granted, I wanted to know what else the bastard had said once Jasper wasn't in my presence. I was just scared to be alone with him. To see him look at me like I was a stranger made me feel like I had failed him somehow.

He was the one who started talking. He told me the things Demetri had said. He put them out there like feelers, wanting to see what I'd say about it. He was still smart. Listening to him wanting to compare information gave me hope. It meant my Jasper was in there somewhere so I tried to be as truthful as I could be with him. I didn't want to upset him by telling him too much too soon but I wanted him to know things. I just took it slow.

With some things anyways.

When he told me the ridiculous lie Demetri had told him about the girls belonging to Leah and Edward, I couldn't let it stand. I would not lie about our girls. I would just adjust the truth.

I told him they were his daughters then I lied about being their mother. Instead of telling the truth which would lead to more questions I wasn't sure I should be answering from him yet, I told him that the mom couldn't hack it and ran off, leaving him to raise his girls alone.

I basically became my mother in that instant. And I hated myself for it.

I continued with the lie because it was a good one and told Jasper that we had created the ruse about Leah and Edward being their parents going so we could eliminate any danger to them in case anyone found out they were his daughters since he was a witness.

"I feel like I know you," he said once I finished explaining about the girls.

I didn't even realize he was standing so close to me until he spoke. He was affecting my senses. I moved away, busying myself preparing something to eat while I tried not to be affected by his words or the fact he was in the same space as me and he smelt so damn good from his shower.

His eyes were bright and sparkling with curiosity as he asked more questions and I did my best to answer some while dodging others that drew too close to the truth.

I didn't want to hurt him by throwing too much information his way. Wanting to learn more about his condition and what to do, I researched amnesia and found that along with the proper diet and nutrition, you had to be patient with the person. I couldn't pressure Jasper into remember. I would be doing him more harm than good that way. I could ask simple things of him. Watch him to see what he remembers. So far, Jasper was doing fairly well. He knew the basics like how to care for himself. He had no problems there. It was certain things that evaded him like his name or information about his life not his motor skills.

I know I should probably be speaking to Carlisle about this serum or sedative he gave Jasper so I could get a proper understanding of what to expect but I couldn't face him. Not without wanting to put a bullet in him.

"Why is that?" Jasper asked, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Oh!" I needed to come up with a reason for his familiarity with me. I couldn't say because we are in love with each other so I went with…the lie. "It's probably because I've been protecting you for a while." I tried to maintain eye contact while I spoke that shit to him. I wanted to kick myself for telling him that crap at the same time.

"No," Jasper said, contradicting me. Shit! I shouldn't feel the hope rising in my chest but I did. Did he remember me? "There's this feeling I get since I've…well, met you…" Fuck, he didn't remember me. "It's like I've known you for a long time. I feel…safe around you."

"Like I said…" I replied, side stepping him to get to the coffee pot. With my back to him, I continued with my flimsy explanation. "It's because I'm your bodyguard."

He chuckled behind me and I smiled. "Maybe."

I turned to face him and found him looking at me curiously. The look on his face almost reminded me of when I walked into his office for that job interview. His eyes were just as suspicious but a little flirtatious at the same time now as they were back then. It sent a tingle down my spine in a very good way but I had to block my mind from what my body was feeling. He didn't know who I was or what we were.

To Jasper, we were…strangers.

"Listen, I'm going to be going in on a job so someone else will be coming in to keep you and the girls safe until I get back, okay?"

"Where are you going?" He sounded so much like his old self with that question. Demanding. And I almost smiled but I held it in. I couldn't be my usual self and goad him.

"I don't know yet. It's a need to know assignment."

"Will you be okay?' He asked with concern.

I chuckled this time. "I don't know." I told him honestly. "I do pretty dangerous things, Jasper."

He smiled. "I get a feeling you do."

The rest of the day passed with ease. It was a little unsettling for me because I had to watch Jasper with the girls and force myself not to interact too much for the sake of the ruse of only being the bodyguard. Leah hated it when I explained the lie to her but she kept quiet about it.

A part of the reason was that she was worried about Edward and what he would be doing while on the mission with me.

Edward tried to reassure her, but she wasn't convinced and I didn't blame her. She understood the dangers.

As for Jasper, I explained all of the lies Demetri planted in his head and what I told him.

I told Jasper Edward was his cousin just like in Demetri's ruse. Leah was Edward's wife and the three of them grew up together. But Demetri told Jasper Emmett and Rose couldn't to be trusted. So as much as it burned me, I had to omit Emmett from his life until we got his memory back. I would have to explain to Emmett. Although I was sure Rosie already did since she had to be there when Demetri was telling Jasper this crap.

When Rosie and I spoke, she didn't mention it but I knew she had to have told Emmett what was happening. Jasper was his best friend. She only told me the interrogation was no use to Demetri. He got nothing out of Jasper. Nothing he wanted, making me both love and fear that.

Since he didn't get what he wanted, Demetri could plan to get rid of Jasper for being useless now or he could keep him around and reveal his whereabouts to his enemies so they would swoop in and take Jasper out.

Demetri probably saw it as he would win either way. I would come to him as his weapon on his Ops team and without my family I would have no distraction. I would be perfect. An agent with no will to live. He would simply unleash me. The only thing was I was already planning to be unleashed. It just wouldn't go the way Demetri wanted.

The night passed with a quiet dinner between Jasper, myself, Edward and Leah. And in the morning, Jake was at the door. I briefed him and introduced him again to Jasper.

Jasper was a little wary of Jake. He stuck to my side like a kid who didn't want to be away from their parent but I finally convinced him that Jake was good people and things would be okay.

"Come back to me," he looked me deep in the eyes and said then he hugged me and I forced myself not to hug him back just as tightly as he held me.

I said nothing in return. I didn't know what to say.

I grabbed my bag and threw it over my shoulder. I nodded at him and Leah and turned away with a heavy heart. I was leaving my heart behind with Jasper and our girls. I prayed to whoever sat up there in the heavens that they would be here and I would come back to them.

Edward and I walked to the waiting SUV and opened the back. We got in. A woman was in the driver's seat and truthfully, I was expecting Demetri's smug face to staring into mine from beside the driver. But it wasn't him. It was a woman. She looked refined. She was government but unlike any agent I had ever seen. She looked almost too perfect in her white suit sitting there in the front like some regal figure.

She didn't speak and neither did Edward and I as the truck drove off with us. No words passed between the four of us until we were some ways out of town. Then the truck pulled over and the driver killed the engine.

After she did, she turned to us and stuck a hand out, introducing herself with a kind smile on her face. "Hi, I'm Angela Weber."

Edward and I exchanged curious glances before I took her hand in a strong grip making her flinch a little. "I'm Bella, this is Edward, but you already know that so cut the bullshit. Are you going to put a bullet in us?"

The lady in the first laughed out loud. The sound of it seemed to surprise Angela. She jumped a little. Her eyes telling me she feared the woman sitting beside her more than she could ever fear me or Edward.

The woman turned around. At first she perused Edward. She was looking at him like she was searching for something.

"You almost remind me of the bastard you call a father." She broke her silence and said. "Where is dear old Carlisle?" She asked the question then answered herself. "Oh yes, playing God with Jasper's mind and almost fucking up my plans, that's where he is." She knew about Carlisle's bull and Jasper's condition? Who was she?

"I had great plans for that lovely boy that are now delayed because Carlisle jumped the fucking gun!" She yelled. "He always was a jumpy fuck. Good cleaner. But jumpy fuck." She looked at Edward, directing her question at him. "I watched you. You don't seem like a jumpy asshole, but are you, Edward? Are you a jumpy bastard like your father, Carlisle?"

"No." Edward answered.

"Good." She sighed with a smile that was borderline evil. "I would hate to have to kill you before we get to know one another because I think you're good for Leah. At first, I hated the idea of her dating. I mean I had recruited her since she was a kid. It was about the same time she found out Jasper's mom was an agent."

She was droning on and then she said that, and my brain was like…wait…what?

Jasper's mother was an agent!

She looked at me and smiled as if she could read my mind. "Yes, Bella, this shit runs far deeper than a little bitch like Demetri trying to skate uphill on your backs. This. My agency has been around for a very long time and we have the finest women working for us." She glanced at Edward. "And even a few good men." She winked at him.

"Who are you?" I finally ask her.

"Before I tell you that, I've got to say…I admire your work, Ms. Volturi."

I bristled at the name. "It's Swan."

She laughed at me. "You're more like Aro than you'll ever know. So I'll stick with Volturi for now."

"Who the hell are you?" I shouted.

She smirked evilly at me. "As of now and until whenever I say…I'll be the boss of both of you." She told us. "You can call me Esme."


	13. Chapter 13

_**Chapter Thirteen: Interrogate**_

 _ **Jasper, February, 2007**_

I tried to see her through the tinted back window as they drove away from me but I couldn't. I wanted her to stay. I knew she said I would be safe with this Jake person but I didn't trust him like I trusted her even though I didn't know why I trusted her, but I did. There was just something about her. Something that felt familiar. It was like I knew her…from before. I just couldn't remember this…before when I knew her.

I wanted to though if it involved her.

Her name was Bella. Probably short for Isabella. It was a beautiful name and she was gorgeous. She probably wouldn't believe me either if I told her so and I shouldn't want to tell her that because I didn't know her. I just felt like I did.

I should be trying to remember my life. I needed to. I needed to know what happened to me before I forgot everything. I was a father for God sake! And I didn't know crap about myself or my kids. I was in the dark.

Bella said the guy she left with was my cousin. He was Edward and his wife, Leah, was going to be staying with me and the babies.

The babies.

What kind of woman ran out on her kids? Who did I date? Didn't I know she was an asshole beforehand? Was I some lovesick fool who was so in love with her, I was blinded? I didn't know.

I walked back inside the house. The Jake guy seemed to be following my every move. He looked at me like he was suspicious of me. Like I was a criminal of some sort. I didn't get it. I wasn't doing anything. I just wanted to remember who I was and figure out why I was so drawn to Bella. I knew she said it was because she was guarding me but I didn't think so. It was something else. I could see it in her eyes. There was a yearning there. She was speaking words she didn't believe.

While she talked to me yesterday, most of what she said left like a lie. The part about the kids was true. But when she talked about the mom part, it was sketchy. She glossed over the woman who was supposed to be their mom. Did she know her? I would ask her when she got back.

That was another strange thing too. I seemed to feel scared about her being on some mission. Like how a lover felt when the one he loves has gone away. It felt like I was holding my breath until I saw her again.

Why would I feel that way about a bodyguard? Were we more than that?

Since the day before yesterday, I felt like I knew her more than anyone else here. I wanted to stay by her side from the moment I saw her. When the blonde came to the room I was in, she told me I needed to come with her. I didn't know why.

"It's for your safety," the blonde had told me.

"What?"

"You're in danger…sir," she seemed to hesitate and then said. "I'm with the authorities and I am here to keep you safe."

She talked me into going downstairs with her where we walked into an intense standoff with the three other people in the room. I didn't want to be around these people. I felt like running from the room until my eyes landed on her. She was fiercely beautiful with long, brown hair and hauntingly gorgeous brown eyes. There was something about her. Something that made me feel…safe. But who was she?

Whoever she was, she talked me into going with these people. I didn't like it but she said it would be okay and I wanted to trust her words. I hated being around them, but the brown eyed girl said it would be okay.

"We're going to be asking you some questions, Jasper?" The man who came for me said. He was…Demetri. The girl I left behind didn't like him. I could see that. And since I felt like I trusted her, I didn't trust him.

I didn't answer him so he turned around from his place in the front seat and looked back at me with his eyes demanding my answer. There was something in them. Something that said this guy wasn't the nicest person and he wasn't screwing around with me. His look said, "Don't fuck with me." And since I didn't know anything, I wasn't about to so I simply nodded.

"Good!" He exclaimed with enthusiasm, but it sounded forced like he was pissed off.

I think he actually was pissed. I remembered how intense the standoff looked back at the house we had left when the blonde lady escorted me downstairs.

She was here as well. Seated beside me and kept stealing glances at me like I was a foreign object. She seemed familiar to me but I couldn't place her.

The Demetri guy turned his sights on her.

"So, you didn't know what was going on?" he said to her in an accusing tone.

What were they talking about?

"No," she answered him curtly.

I guess there was no love lost between them. They sounded like they hated each other. She also kept eyeing the old guy driving us. He wasn't really old. He just looked like an aged rock star with all of the tattoos on his arms, the scarves tied around his wrists, the skull rings on his fingers and long hair that touched the nape of his neck. And he kept trying to avoid her glares. If I was him I would have avoided them too. Her stares were cold and deadly. She looked like she wanted to choke the life out of him.

But they didn't matter as much as me wanting to know where the hell they were taking me?

"Where am I going?" I asked.

"You'll know when you get there." Demetri told me. No one else seemed to be willing to answer so I shut up.

We drove for a while. We passed the stores and restaurants in town. I looked out the window at everything as we went by trying to recognize something but it was futile. I remembered nothing.

We drove in silence, at least it was quiet for me because my mind was elsewhere wanting to remember anything I could, I didn't notice we'd come to a stop.

"Time to go," Demetri said before getting out of the front, slamming the door behind him.

"Let's go," the blonde said to me and opened her door.

I opened mine and got out behind them. Two guys came up to flank me like they thought I'd run.

To where?

I didn't even know where I was right now or what was going to happen. I just noticed that we had stopped in front of a warehouse and now we were walking toward the entrance.

The older guy at the front got out too. He came to walk alongside me. He kept watching me out of the corner of his eye and it was irritating me.

"What?" I finally asked him after we had walked into the building.

We all stopped in the lobby of this warehouse/office building and all eyes were on us. I didn't care. I was freaking out and I wanted to know what his looks were about.

"Why do you keep staring at me?" Then I got hopeful. "Wait…do you know me? Can you tell me why I'm here?" He looked baffled and confused for a bit by my question. At least, I thought he did. He had this look in his eye. Like he knew exactly what was happening to me. He had to know me then!

So I went on, "I know the girl back at the house said that…" I stopped talking when he seemed to get mad at the mention of the girl back at the house. Did he know her? Were they close?

"I think we should stop lingering," Demetri came up to us and said, dragging me along.

I looked back at the older guy. His face was stoic as I was being pulled away.

What had I gotten myself into?

"Where are we going?' I asked Demetri.

"To answer some important questions."

"About what?"

"Where you hid some stuff, people you know…stuff like that."

I stopped from walking. I smiled internally when my sudden stop caused this Demetri guy to stump a little. I was stronger than him. Hmm…interesting. Maybe if there weren't all these people around, I could get away from him easily.

That thought suddenly led me to thinking about the precise punches and kicks I'd use to knock this guy on his ass. I even knew how to break his neck while standing here in this hall with him.

Who was I?

"Answer some questions?" I countered. "What are you talking about? I don't even know who you are or who I am!"

What the hell? How could I answer to something I didn't know?

Demetri smiled deviously at me. "We'll find a way around that."

He gestured for me to follow him and turned and walked away. The two guys flanking me, pushed me forward. The blonde girl was still here with me. She had been walking ahead of us. She nodded for me to follow them so I did.

I was led into a white room. There was nothing there but these lights that were too bright and made me feel like I was on lockdown in a mental ward. There was a desk in the middle of the room with two chairs, one of which was occupied by a man dressed in a suit. His face was stoic and looked like he worked in a funeral home in his gray suit. There was a polygraph machine and a laptop on the table.

Well, I guess I could remember some things. I knew what a polygraph machine was.

"Take a seat," Demetri slapped me on my back and said. I didn't want him touching me. Something about it felt off. Whoever he was, I didn't like him. Everything about his presence around me, made me angry.

"I get that," I snapped.

Wow! Where did that come from? I really didn't like this bastard.

The blonde was in the room. She took a seat in a chair behind me. There was a mirror behind the grim reaper looking guy in the gray suit and I knew it was a two way mirror. Someone was around there, watching this.

Why did I know these things? Who the hell was I?

Being in this room didn't make me feel uncomfortable either. It felt…familiar.

Had I been in situations like this before?

I took a seat at the table. The guy in the gray suit hooked me up to the polygraph machine. I felt a little nervous at first as I watched Demetri watch the guy get me ready for a lie detector test, apparently I knew what that was too, with a satisfied look on his face. He seemed pleased. Like he was about to catch me doing something I shouldn't.

The problem was…I didn't know what he was supposed to catch me doing.

Once I was ready, the guy in the gray suit went back to his seat, facing me. Demetri took a seat beside me with a smile on his face.

"You have no idea what this is right now and I'm so pleased!"

"You're pleased with my memory loss?" I figured that was what it was.

"Yeah, right." Demetri scoffed. "Memory loss. That's what she wants me to believe."

He must be talking about Bella. To tell the truth, I would rather be with her right now. She looked like I could ask her what the hell was going on and she wouldn't have a devious look on her face like Demetri as she answered me. She seemed like a straight forward person.

"Don't you two work together?" I said. "Why would she lie to you?"

"She's stubborn and likes to have her own way, that's why." He looked pensive then said, "When you go back, I implore you to not trust her. I know she says she's keeping you safe, but you can't trust her."

"Doesn't she work with you guys?" What was he talking about? Maybe he didn't like Bella.

"She does…" He paused and then added, "Then again you might never know who is a double agent until you find out."

Something beeped on the machine when my fear spiked. Was Bella dangerous? And we left her with babies?

"If she's dangerous…why did we leave her with kids?" I asked, a little nervous about that. "They're just babies!"

"I know," Demetri said without concern.

"You know? Where are their parents?"

"Right there," Demetri answered.

"Who?"

"Edward and his wife, Leah. Edward is your cousin."

I breathed a little easier. "Okay."

"May we begin?" Creepy guy in the gray suit said, interrupting Demetri. He didn't look like he liked that but he didn't say anything. He just nodded for us to start.

Then something happened to me. I took a deep breath, calming myself and I just began to answer their questions as best as I could. I felt completely at ease and I remembered someone asking me questions like these before; just like the guy in the gray suit.

Except it was a woman's voice in my mind and it sounded familiar. It sounded like…Bella.

What was going on?

The machine beeped loudly, jarring me from my thoughts. I could hear the guy in the gray suit telling Demetri that we needed to stop because I was going into distress. The room was beginning to spin and I felt like I was about to fall off of the chair before everything grew blurry and I did.

I woke up in another white room on a hospital bed with monitors around me. I tried to get up, but the blonde placed a hand on my shoulder, pushing me back down. "Easy," she said. "I don't know what happened in there, but you should take it easy."

"Who are you?" I asked her, desperately to know something concrete. "Who am I?"

She looked blankly at me but there was something in her eyes. "Someone important to…us." She whispered before Demetri walked in and she shut down. She got up as he approached and left the room. He noticed me watching her go.

"She's hot, isn't she?" He smirked.

"She is." I agreed. "But she isn't my type."

"You have a type?" He cocked an eyebrow at me. "I thought you couldn't remember anything."

"I can't."

"I just know that girl isn't my type." I didn't know why I just…did.

Demetri pulled a chair up beside the bed I was on. He sat there, staring at me for a while before he spoke. "You can't trust her either, you know. None of them."

"Isabella?"

"The blonde too," he said. "Her name is Rosalie. She is Isabella's sister. And she's got this boyfriend who works for the British, he's a hacker. His name is Emmett. He might try to come around and pretend to be your closest friend but he isn't." Demetri told me. "We have it on good authority that he's a spy and Rosalie is assisting him. Isabella might be in on it too seeing as they're sisters."

It was plausible what he was saying. But how did this involve me? "So how did I get in involve and how did I lose my memory?"

He didn't hesitate which might have made me believe him just a little bit as he went on, "There was an accident. You were seriously injured. I think they were trying to take you out after you came to us offering information. You see, you worked in Accounts. You were doing books and noticed your employer was working with gangs. I came across you by accident and we've been working together ever since. Every bit of information you have, you have given it to me. So it's imperative that if you remember anything, I should be the first one you tell." I didn't like the persuasive look on his face when he said that.

"Have I told you things before?" I asked curiously. So I was a snitch for him?

"Yes. Good stuff that I could use to take down a very powerful gang."

"Am I safe from them now?"

He smiled. "Well, there is still one left to get rid of but the leader and his other son are dead. There is a second in command to apprehend, but you're mostly safe."

I nodded. "Okay."

We continued to talk. Demetri warned me not to trust Isabella because he knew her intimately. Apparently they used to date until he broke it off because he began to distrust her. My cousin, Edward, I could stick to him but stay away from his wife, Leah. I was basically told not to trust anyone but Demetri and he gave me a number to call him directly if I remembered anything about the information I might have learned about the gang he was talking about. The defected gang. The Whitlock gang. Apparently, the son that was still alive and probably searching for me was an arms dealer and a very brutal guy. And since I had learned things about his contacts, locations and some very important names, Demetri wanted me to share that information with him alone as soon as I remembered it. I was also to stay away from Edward's dad, some doctor on the compound where I was living, named Carlisle. Demetri said he would hurt me if he ever caught me alone."

On the drive back I wondered, if everything and everyone was so dangerous, why was he leaving me around them?

When I got back to the compound, I saw Is…I saw Bella. She was waiting for me. She looked worried. Not about what someone was saying about her. She looked relieved when she saw…me. Did I mean something to her? I felt drawn to her. I felt like I knew her better than anyone. I wanted to touch her. To hold her in my arms. There was this urge to walk right up to her and pull her into my arms, but Demetri's words were beating in my head causing it to pound so hard, I didn't do anything but walk by her and went upstairs where I collapsed in bed and promptly fell asleep.

Maybe tomorrow I'd try talking to her.

I did talk to Bella the next morning and the urge to be close to her was strong. She was beautiful up close. Her eyes were filled with curiosity and secrets. She seemed worried about me but she was also lying. When I asked about the babies upstairs, I was surprised to know they were mine. I think Bella knew their mother though and was covering for her. Maybe she was aware of the relationship between me and the mother and she was trying not to hurt me while I was vulnerable and couldn't remember much. I appreciated that if she was.

I learned that she was leaving tomorrow and my heart dropped. I didn't want her to go. But she had to. She told me so.

Now I had this guy staying with me. Jake. He was big and scary. He looked like some WWE wrestler. But the babies seemed to know him and around them, he was as gentle as a lamb.

There was also Leah. She kept shadowing me. Trailing me wherever I went on the compound while Jake was with the babies. He didn't seem to mind. He seemed to love spending time with them. I spotted an older guy who reminded me of my cousin, Edward. That must be Carlisle so I went the other way. I was supposed to stay away.

I couldn't take her following me anymore so I walked back to the house. I didn't go inside. I suddenly stopped on the porch and yelled at her when she stopped in the yard, "Stop it. You're freaking me the fuck out!" I guess I cursed because it felt good to shout.

She smiled at my reaction. It was as if she had been waiting on me to react like this. "Go into the office and look in the desk drawer on the top right hand corner of it. You'll find what you need there." She stepped right up to me and whispered this bit. "There are tapes in there. They have the answers to your questions. I just hope I haven't hurt you. I have never been a patient girl. You knew this."

She stepped back and smiled at me with tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry for lying to you all these years, Jasper. But I swore to protect you. You're like a brother to me. Don't tell anyone what you see. Not even Bella. Learn on your own. Your mom taught you this. Try to remember."

She walked away, heading inside the house before me. I went inside and following her advice, I found the office. I saw the desk and went to where she told me to. I didn't think to call anyone so I could ask them if what Leah told me a minute ago was true. Something in me didn't want anyone to know what she told me. For some reason, I didn't want to betray her.

It felt like Leah had given me the gospel and somehow I knew she wasn't lying to me.

I did as she instructed and went to the desk, taking a seat behind it. I opened the drawer she told me to and saw some DVDs in there. There were three of them and they were address to me. _To Jasper._ There was a laptop on the desk and I opened it. There wasn't a password so I accessed it and placed the first disc inside. I waited a minute for the video to load and begin to play.

I almost jumped out of the seat when I saw myself appear on the screen. I looked like me but I had a scowl on my face.

"I really don't want to do this," I said to someone off screen before the person came into view kneeling down beside my knee and my breath stopped when I saw it was my bodyguard, Bella. Except the closeness between us said she was more to me than a bodyguard. The way she talked to me and the terms of endearment she used like "baby" and when she told me she loved me, I released the breath I had been unconsciously holding.

She was lying. There was something going on between us. Were the babies hers? If so, why was she lying about us? Was it necessary like she told me? Was the danger we were in so serious that she had to deny her own family?

"It'll help." She told me before getting up and giving me a kiss on top of my head and walking out frame.

I huffed out a breath and stared at the camera. I was reluctant to start until Bella said something about time running out and we were probably already too late to someone else off camera and the voice answered her. It sounded familiar seeing as it was the same voice that guided me to these tapes. It was Leah. I seemed to know what they were talking about.

"It's not." I sighed. "Let's get this over with." I stared into the camera with determination this time and said, "You're probably watching this and wondering "what the hell?". I know you're the one watching this because if I know Leah or think I know my girlfriend, Bella…yeah I said girlfriend. You'll hear more about that soon, like how we met and such. They won't be able to keep this from you for too long. So here are the facts. Everything anyone outside of your family which consists of Bella, Leah, Edward, Emmett, and Carlisle tell you is not true. They are trying to keep you away from your family. Especially Leah who is your bodyguard and like a sister to you, and Bella, who you love more than anything."

I loved Bella. That was the closeness I felt around her!

"People like Demetri Collins, an agent of the CIA, are not to be trusted." I continued on the video. "The guy is sick and he's after you. He'll do whatever it takes to destroy you. So here's the truth, you're Jasper Whitlock. You lead the Whitlock gang with your pop, Nicky Whitlock."

I was Jasper Whitlock? Demetri was lying to me? I wasn't helping to bring down Jasper Whitlock? I was him!

I did find it strange when he told me Jasper's name that we shared the same name. I just didn't look into it.

"Your dad is dead. He was murdered by his right hand man, Aro Volturi. He planned the hit with the Chekov gang. There was supposed to be a takeover. It didn't work out for them but you lost a lot along the way like your best friends Peter and Charlotte. They were good buddies of yours. You also lost your little brother, Michael. One of your daughters is named after him. She's Michaela. The calm one with her mommy Bella's hair and your blue eyes. That's Michaela. Your other little girl, who is almost the splitting image of you, is Jamie-Lyn. She's a firecracker like you. Loves to make her presence known when she's awake."

They are my daughters. They really were. I smiled at the thought and I could hear Bella encouraging me to talk about them so I wouldn't shy away from them even after my memory was gone.

I listened to more of the recording but nothing was coming to me and it frustrated me. I grew so angry after you…I told myself about how Carlisle injected us…me with the serum that stole my memory and even though I heard myself say it was temporary I still grew angry enough to stop the tape.

Getting up, I grabbed all the DVDs and took the recordings and the laptop from the office. I took them upstairs and hid them in the closet in the bedroom, I was supposed to share with Bella.

Shit!

So when she slept downstairs, she was just giving me space and time to think. God! What did Carlisle do?

I stormed out of my room and walked right into Leah. She looked into my eyes suspiciously and then sighed. Maybe she didn't see the Jasper she was looking for in them.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Where's Carlisle?"

"Here. Why?"

"Because I want to know what the fuck he did to me and I want him to undo it. Now!"


	14. Chapter 14

_**Chapter Fourteen: Join the Team**_

 _ **Bella, February, 2007**_

"Who are you?" I finally ask her.

"Before I tell you that, I've got to say…I admire your work, Ms. Volturi."

I bristled at the name. "It's Swan."

She laughed at me. "You're more like Aro than you'll ever know, Bella, so I'll stick with Volturi for now."

"Who the hell are you?" I shouted.

She smirked at me evilly. "As of now and until I say when…I'll be the boss of both of you." She told us. "You can call me Esme."

"Fine. Esme, what do you want from us?" I asked.

"Everything." She smiled. "I want everything you can give me, Ms. Volturi. By the way, when are you and Jasper going to walk down the aisle? I mean, you're together. You both love each other very much and have babies together. I can only assume marriage is next. Besides, I haven't been to a wedding in so long."

Was she crazy?

"I don't know you, but we're supposed to get married because you haven't been to a wedding in a long time?" I said in disbelief. "And while we're on the topic, you seem to know everything about me and Jasper, why is that?"

"Because I'm an optimist, Bella," she said with a laugh. "I'm optimist who knows that you and Jasper are perfect for each other. Even when he was with those other bitches he liked to fuck around with, I knew it wouldn't last. None of those idiots stood out to me. With you, it was easy, you hardly dated and you loved your work so much, always trying to prove yourself and excel, it was easy to watch over you."

"You've been watching us for so long?"

This woman knew so much about my life and Jasper's. While we were unaware of each other, she was keeping tabs on us. Why?

"I almost lost faith in Jasper but then he took a trip down to Mexico and came back starry eyed over a girl he saved. I mean, sure, he and Carmen were messing around back then, but once he met you, nothing else mattered. You were all he thought about. We could tell."

"Who is we?" I asked.

She smirked at me. "Trying to be sly, Bella? See? Just like Aro."

I scoffed at her and she laughed. "Rude like him too."

"Why do you keep comparing me to him?"

"Because like father like daughter."

She left it at that, staring into my eyes, willing me to get the gist of what she was hinting at.

No. It couldn't be.

"No. You're lying."

"What?" Edward asked, trying catch up to what we were saying while I suddenly couldn't breathe.

I started to pull at the door but it wouldn't open. I shouted at Angela, "Open the fucking door!"

"Let her out before she throws up on us," Esme said, waving her hand dismissively as she turned to her own door and opened it, getting out.

I opened my door and jumped out of the back, running off a little before I hunched over and threw up. I could hear Esme speaking and felt pats and small rubs on my back while I lost everything in my stomach.

My whole life had been a lie. My father, Aro, was like me. He was an agent.

"Aro is exactly what you are thinking," Esme said while soothing me. "He was one of our finest. He came to us after we threatened to throw his dad away in prison for fucking ever and he made a deal. He would work for us in any capacity. So we used him like a snitch or like an enforcer. He was the one who executed Jasper grandfather when we thought the old coot wasn't needed anymore. He was a fine agent up until…well, let's just say it all changed when Tanya walked in."

I straightened up and backed away from her. I saw Edward staring at her with nothing but shock registering on his face.

He was thinking what I felt. We have all been played. Right from the start. It was all a game of power for these bastards.

"What about my father?" Edward asked her.

"He didn't like the unnecessary attention Aro was giving his sister and we know where the hatred went between those two. It's why Carlisle will hate Bella. He just sees her as her father's invention like Alice." Esme told us without an ounce of emotion in her tone. In fact, she sounded bored.

I didn't care. I wanted to know about the sick fucks Jasper and our friends and family were dealing with.

"So Aro was obsessed with Tanya?" I inputted.

"Yes," Esme answered with a scowl. "We couldn't fix certain things about your father unfortunately."

"Things you hope aren't fine tuned in me?"

"I know they aren't."

"You're confident."

"I would be," she replied. "I've been your handler since you entered this world, Bella. Your mother doesn't give a shit about you but I do. I know how special you are."

"You mean the fine tuned terminator I am?" I was almost ashamed to say that about myself. That I was nothing but a killer. It was what I was born to be.

She looked concerned about what I said. "You're more than that." But she never said what more I could be and I didn't press the issue. She would have just lied anyways.

"Tell me about Alice."

I decided to give her something from the left field.

"Shouldn't we be getting to Demetri and handing you over?" She countered.

"Will you be doing that personally?" I asked.

"No." She smirked. "Just Angela. She's Jake girlfriend and she'll be taking care of you and Edward while you're on that idiot, Demetri's team."

"What do you want from me when it comes to Demetri?" She wanted something. They always do. This was a powerful person and they dealt in nothing but power. I had a feeling however I handled whatever task Demetri gave Edward and I, Esme would be judging us based on that.

"To get rid of him," she said without hesitation. "Be inventive. I don't want to hear about him. I want him to disappear somewhere far away, Ms. Volturi. As I said, be inventive."

"Fine. What will it guarantee me?"

She smiled. "Are we dealing?"

"Always."

She laughed. "God! Jasper really rubbed off on you. You did study him. I love this!"

"We're just the perfect little toys to you, huh?"

"In a way, yes." She answered truthfully.

I bristled but pushed my temper down. "So what will getting rid of him get me?"

"More years with your family. Watching your daughters grow up without too much interruption from me. But only if…" she said and then paused as if she was thinking and when something came to her, she said. "If you could guarantee Jasper working in his mother's place. I would love to have you both working for me as a team. I'll put Edward with Leah. She's as good a sniper as you, Bella. He'll stick to computers and be a spotter for her."

Edward looked disappointed about not knowing Leah was involved. "Don't be mad," Esme scoffed at him. "She couldn't tell me no when I approached her because she was so integrated with the Whitlock family that she couldn't bear to think of me killing them all, yourself included, Edward, while she watched."

If I thought anyone else we had dealt with before was bad, they couldn't compare to this woman. She was the power behind it all. At least her agency was. And they would destroy everything I held close to my heart for what they wanted.

"When do you want it done?" I asked taking her attention from Edward. I didn't want her doubting him. She looked like the type to kill him and have me bury him out here in the woods.

"What's that, dear?" She smiled like she cared.

"When do you want me to handle Demetri?" To tell you the truth, I wouldn't mind her saying as soon as I saw him.

She looked at me with keen interest for a while before answering, "I'll let you know when the time is right."

I nodded.

"I love that you seem disappoint, Ms. Volturi."

"Please, don't call me that."

"It's who you are."

I scoffed.

Esme looked offended. "You think we put a junkie like your mom with Aro knowing she had an obsessive personality like him and would hover which was supposed to keep him occupied and away from Tanya, while she gathered information for us from the Whitlock gang, so we could have a so and so baby? We wanted you to be born, Bella. We have been your true parents since birth. You're not an accident. You're a product of very precise planning. Your mother was cleaned up and guided into Aro and then Charlie Swan's life. And look at you…you are a success."

"What about Rose and James?"

She fanned me off dismissively. "They were just distraction for Charlie Swan to keep his ass out of the way. You were the true intent."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"Think back to Mexico. You were magnificent in the way you killed those men who had hurt you. And let's not forget about your avenging angel, Jasper. My god, it was incredible how he came to your rescue," Esme said, gushing over the way Jasper rescued me. "Some may have doubted the project, but not me."

"So they were people who were objective to this?"

"And then they didn't exist anymore," Esme was quick to say without an ounce of sympathy. There was a glazed over look in her eyes as she did too. A look I was unfortunate enough to have gotten to see on someone but I never forgot it because it was stitched with the betrayal I felt when I learned Alice was just a spy there to hurt me for Aro…and apparently, Esme.

"You're Alice's mother," I said like I had always known. It just came to me. I had just connected the dots. Seen the madness in her eyes. Madness I once saw in her daughter's.

"Yes, and she was a failure while I know without a doubt that you will succeed."

"You don't care that I killed your daughter?"

"Like I said, she failed."

"So why would I trust Aro's former lover?" I countered. "Cause that's what you are."

"I'm more than Aro, Bella, and I think you know that." Esme pointed out. And I did. She was far more powerful than a mere gangster's son even if he had been spying for her agency. These people had found a way to make the most powerful men in the crime world their bitches. Who were they?

"I do."

"Good. Now stop asking dumb questions then and let's not waste anymore of each other's time." She warned.

Edward and Angela's faces told me to oblige.

I nodded in consent and let Esme drone on about how they put Jasper and mine's life together for their own gain.

"I believed in you and Jasper. And now, you two have blessed us with two more incredible beings."

That took me out of her trance. I approached her, getting into her face while I pulled my gun and pointed it to the side of her head, ready to pull the trigger.

"Do it and your life will end," she said, pointing her gun to my head while we faced each other.

"You better shoot me," I warned her. "Because if you come after my kids, I'll kill you."

"I know." She smiled. "The same way Leah will kill for the child she's carrying. I know she fears Edward going back there and hating her."

Leah was pregnant? Why didn't she say anything?

"Don't worry," Esme said. "I don't want anything from your kids. Yet."

"What do you want?"

"I want you and Jasper working together…for us." She put her gun away and so did I.

On the rest of the drive to Demetri's operation center, I thought about what Esme told me about my family and about my sister, Alice. I had asked about Alice because she had been on my mind and I wanted to know the sister I never got to know because of all of this bullshit. Learning that Esme was her mother threw me through a loop but I quickly recovered. I had to learn not to let anything shock me anymore since this life I was living was someone else's plan from the start.

I wondered if my mother knew all about this and that was why she left us.

Did Charlie know? Did he work for Esme?

What about Carlisle?

What was true and what were all lies?

Who else was a part of this agency and how secret were they? They seemed to operate in and around the law enforcement agencies. They had moles everywhere, even in the criminal world. The Volturi gang worked with them. They sent Jasper's mom to spy on the Whitlock's before she even had Jasper and his brother, Michael.

I didn't have any more time to think about it since we had arrived at Demetri's operations headquarters which was a warehouse way outside of town. Edward was quiet for most of the ride too. He had learned as much as I and it was hitting him hard. His father knew this woman, Esme, and she had been in his life before he was even born. Leah worked for her or the agency she worked for. And Leah was carrying his child and didn't say anything before he left. I knew he was confused and probably feeling betrayed.

When Angela told us we were here, I asked her for a minute and stopped Edward from getting out behind her.

"Hey, wait. I want to talk to you."

He scowled at me and I deserved it. What had happened to his life or the life he knew was now shrouded with the crap from mine. And whatever these people wanted to do with us.

"What do you want?" he sneered.

"I want you to not hate Leah."

His eyes softened. "What?"

I didn't answer. I just went on. "I know what it's like to live for those you love. To want to protect them the way Leah has given her life to these people in order to protect you and be able to love you. Now you'll need to protect her from these people."

"Bella…" He tried and I stopped him.

"No! Did you listen to that woman?" I asked him. "Our lives together. Our happiness doesn't matter. It's all about the bottom line and what they can gain from us. The power whichever one of us grants them. They will work with anyone. The good or the bad to get what they want." I told him. "We can't let them steal our lives, Edward. I love Jasper. You love Leah and despite how they came into our lives, we love them all the same."

The anger in his eyes began to dissipate from my words. "They'll hurt my kid and Leah, won't they? If they get her to continue doing whatever they want it will eventually hurt us," he said more to himself than me.

"So be there for her," I said to him. "Leah had to know this day was coming when you would learn the truth whether it was her mouth or otherwise, so she's gotta be fretting about it right now."

Edward nodded. "Thank you."

I hope I had convinced him to stay with Leah and learn more about her secret life.

He hugged me briefly before letting me go and we both walked off, heading toward a waiting Angela.

Demetri was impatient when we got inside. "What took you so long? I will not tolerate tardiness!" He shouted at us in the lobby area in front of everyone there. I smirked at the bastard. I couldn't wait for Esme. If she didn't say anything soon, then I was going to get rid of this punk all on my own.

Wait…was I considering working with her?

If it was to get rid of Demetri Collins, then fine, I would do it. The only problem was, what the hell was I about to get myself and my family into?


	15. Chapter 15

_**Chapter Fifteen: Give it back now!**_

 _ **Jasper, February, 2007**_

I stormed down the stairs, breezing through the living room and was out the door before any of my guards could stop me. I heard Leah calling to me, trying catch up and I only stopped because I didn't know where I was headed.

"Where is he?!" She stopped and stared at me. "Quit gawking at me and tell me where Carlisle is!" I yelled at Leah.

She swallowed hard and sighed. "So did you watch all the tapes?"

I gave her a hard look. "I saw enough."

She seemed nervous now. "So you know the truth then? What I said about me being in the agency…listen…" Agency? What agency? "I'm sorry for letting you learn about it this way but it's the truth. Jasper, I love you like a brother. Even if I lose you now because you hate me forever for lying to you, please don't hate your mom. She did what was best for you. She taught you what she knew and what to watch out for."

Leah knew things about me that no one else did and if I wanted to keep her talking, I had to pretend like I knew what she was talking about.

I nodded. "I'll need a little time but I…I know you only wanted to protect me."

Tears spilled from Leah's eyes and something in me told me this was a rare moment. She didn't look like the type to cry at the drop of a hat. She seemed more like the tomboyish type. But here she was, crying and pulling me into a warm hug like some mother bear wanting to protect her young.

Something else was up with her. I didn't know her well. But I knew that much. I could feel it.

When she let me go, she said with motivation as she took my hand and began leading me toward another house on the compound, "Carlisle's gotta be here.

She was saying it more to herself than to me. But I let her lead the way.

We approached a house almost to the back of the property, and as soon as we had climbed the steps to the porch and got to the door about to knock it, when it was swung open and the man who looked like my cousin Edward stood there staring at me and Leah.

He looked between us in a slight state of panic before he covered it and said in a neutral tone, "Jasper, are you okay?"

Suddenly, just hearing his voice and the calm tone of it pissed me off and without warning, I punched him in the mouth.

"What the hell?" he said, holding his mouth as he backed away from the door and that gave me the urge to do it again. So when he screamed at me for punching him for no reason, I clocked him in the jaw.

I was fuming over the fact I seemingly knew how to fight and couldn't remember why. I just knew he had taken something vital from me and I was here to get it back or so help God I was going to hurt him…bad!

And I knew I could.

I strolled into his house like I owned it and I think I did. He kept backing away while I stalked him like a hungry animal.

And I did feel a hunger. It was for violence and inflicting pain on him seemed to sate my appetite so when he moved to speak to me, I kicked him in the chest, sending him flying over some piece of furniture and breaking shit with his fall.

"I want it back!" I yelled at him. "Give it back to me! I want my memories! I want them now! I want to remember my life, my woman, my kids! Give it the fuck back!"

"Jasper…I…." He was stammering.

"Shut the fuck up! Just give me what is mine!" I growled at him. I went over to him and grabbed him by his collar, holding him up so he could see the murderous look in my eyes. "Enough of this bullshit! Whatever the hell you did to me, you're going to undo it or so help me God, Uncle, I will end you."

I wasn't playing around. I knew I could kill him. I was thinking of about ten different things I could to him right now just to make him scream in pain.

He tried to fight me off. He knew his shit but I was faster and had him screaming in pain when he tried to fight me off again.

When he couldn't fight me, he glanced at Leah while spitting the blood from his mouth so he could berate her. "You couldn't even wait to tell him." He sneered at her while he talked around me.

"He deserved to know!" Leah shouted.

"About what?" He sounded concerned about what she might have told me. "What does he did to know?"

"Everything," Leah told him and she sounded relieved to say that.

"What?" Carlisle said, backing away from me almost fearfully. "What did you do?" He shouted at Leah. Suddenly, he was approaching us threateningly so I socked him in the jaw when he got too close. He staggered back. "Do you know what you've done?!" He growled at her.

He tried to run to us this time but I kicked him square in the chest, sending him flying across his living room and over his couch, landing on the other side.

Yeah, I got into fights. And I think I won them.

I felt good doing this shit. A little too good.

I almost smirked when he staggered back to his feet, using the couch to hold himself up but Leah's words were more important than my momentary glee. She sighed and then said, "As much as I wanted to take it slowly and not ruin anything for him because of you fucks, I had to! She told me to tell him!"

Carlisle was about to argue with her but he stopped mid-sentence when he heard about this 'she'. "She told you to?" he sounded concerned about this person.

Who the hell was she?

"She's coming to see him," Leah resigned. "She's probably already given Bella her pitch so she's coming here to try her hand at Jasper and I just wanted him to be ready for her. I wanted him to…do what I can't."

I turned to her, looking her deep into the eyes. She looked trapped. I could see it. "I'm sorry." She mouthed to me and I nodded. Whoever this woman was that was coming here, she was up to no good if these two were so jumpy about it.

"Who's this she?"

"She is Esme and that's all you need to know for now, Jasper." The tinkering of her voice made me turn around to see a woman appeared in Carlisle's doorway. She was beautiful, refined, and dressed in all white. She looked like an angel with a cunning smile on her face. She breezed into the house and sighed as if she was home from a long trip.

"I love this idea you and Bella had," she commented. "I love the idea of the family staying together."

She moved over to Leah and pulled her into a brief hug, kissing both of cheeks. "Oh my dear! You were perfect! And I believe congratulations are in order for you and Edward."

Leah looked alarmed. "How do you know about…"

"About your baby?" Esme smiled and it was evil.

Leah looked terrified but she was fighting not to show it. "Yes."

"There is nothing I don't know, my dear." Esme replied. "I know how much you love Edward and I would have hated for something to have happened to him if…"

"I didn't!" Leah jumped and said. "I didn't misbehave!" She practically begged. "I kept Jasper safe. I listened. I learned. And then when Bella showed up, I tried to keep her safe too. Please, Edward has nothing to do with this." She began to cry. "Please…don't hurt him."

Esme looked unaffected by Leah's pleas. In fact, she looked as if she enjoyed listening to Leah beg for Edward's life. "I'll consider it." Was her answer to Leah's pleas before she turned her attention to me and her face lit up with a smile that was too bright and too sweet to be anything good.

I watched Leah out of the corner of my eye and she looked like she was about to fall on her face. She staggered back, using the wall to hold herself up.

"So this Esme may look like an angel but she was nothing but a demon dressed in fancy clothing." I thought while Esme stared at me with a gleam in her eyes. "My god! You are handsome! You're the splitting image of Nicky Whitlock when he was a young man."

"I've heard that name before."

"You should!" This Esme said. "He's your father."

"Why are you here?" I knew that. I heard it on the video I had watched of myself telling me some facts about myself.

"Like Leah said," she glanced in Leah's direction as she said this, "I'm here to let you hear my pitch and then you can decide what you think is best as we step forward."

I brushed my hair back and she smirked at me. I didn't like her gaze as she watched my hand go through my hair. It made me feel uneasy. But she was mesmerized. "Wow! You even move like your parents. Your mother loved to run her hair through her hair too."

Carlisle bristled and grumbled something along the line of fucking bitch and I smirked. He really didn't like this woman. I think she heard him too but she was choosing to ignore him.

"Oh, you are so perfect. Like Bella, you're the perfect replica of them."

"It's good to know someone knows about me because I don't know shit about myself." I argued and then scoffed. "This fool gave me something and now I can't remember and..."

"Didn't you watch the videos?"

How did she know about those?

"How do you know about those?" I couldn't help but ask.

Esme smiled ruefully. "I know things, Jasper."

"Good for you," I sneered. "Now how do you know about those?"

I looked at Leah. I remembered her saying some shit about working for some agency. Was this lady that agency? And she said something about my mother too.

"Did my mother work for you?"

Esme rolled her eyes at me and I grew angry because they had said some shit about Bella. "What did you do with Bella?"

"I sent her somewhere," Esme said with pride. Her eyes were filled with challenge like she was egging me on to do something about what she'd just said but what? I didn't know yet. I wasn't going to fight her and it wasn't because she was a woman. Nah, she looked like a hard ass hiding in those pretty clothes. This Esme could fight. It wouldn't be easy to take her down.

No. I wasn't attacking because I needed information. Mostly, I couldn't do jack shit if I didn't remember anything useful.

The bits of information I had told me I was with Bella and she was the mother of my kids and I was in love with her. That was the feeling of longing I was getting when I was away from her, like right now. I was in love with her and if these idiots had sent her somewhere it had to be on some suicide mission to test her. Apparently, they had been fucking with us all this time.

"You sent her somewhere?" I repeated her words to her.

"Yes."

"I see."

My head was spinning. I was so angry I couldn't see straight. I stumbled over to Carlisle's couch and threw myself down on it. This shit was taking the strength out of me. I rubbed my temples. I couldn't deal with this.

"You gave him a headache, Carlisle." Esme said with a chuckle. "Finally, someone has had enough of your crap."

"How did you live so long?" Carlisle countered. "Why? You wretched whore!"

I heard the click of a trigger being pulled back and I looked up to see Esme pointing a gun at Carlisle. "Keep going, Carlisle, I dare you." Esme told him with a leering smile. "See what happens next."

"What do you want?" I asked, taking her attention off of Carlisle. I didn't need her shooting him and fucking up my chances at getting my memories back since he did this to me and I needed him to undo it.

"Are we negotiating?" She smiled.

"Lady, I don't know who either one of us are so I'm in no position to negotiate with you," I relayed to her. "I'm just curious about what you want from me. Why go through so much trouble for one guy?"

"Because you're special," was her big answer.

"Great. So I'm an X-Men?" I didn't even know who they were. It just rolled off my tongue.

She looked amused by my answer even though I didn't know who I was talking about. It just felt like something I should say. "No, you're not but you're very valuable, Jasper. To think of it, I think I have something that will interest you but I can only agree to give it to you after you give me something."

"I'm not fucking you," That seemed to roll off my tongue too.

Leah smirked and I think it was the right thing for me to say. She knew the old me. Her approving smirk told me so.

Esme looked taken aback by my sudden answer. "I never said…"

"I'm just putting that out there. I'm not fucking anybody to get anything," I said. "So if this is about getting into my pants, you can forget it, woman."

She looked shocked but recovered quick enough to say, "This is about getting your memories back, Jasper. This is about being able to remember everything you have forgotten. Peter, Char, your parents, your brother, Michael. Bella, and even your kids who are in the main house right now. Your little girls."

Listening to her talk about my kids pushed terror up my spine. "You leave them out of this!" I snapped.

Her eyes blazed with anger and something else at my tone or the fact that I was commanding her. "I never said I was going to hurt them."

"You never said you weren't!"

She smiled. "Touché."

"Now what do you want?"

"I'll give you everything back if you'll continue your mother's work."

Leah interjected, helping me to understand. "But his mother's dead. The Whitlock gang has been demolished. Jasper's still the leader, yes, but you won't let him out these arrangements anytime soon for him to rebuild it to its former glory."

So I was Jasper Whitlock and I ran the Whitlock gang. The gang was still intact but not as glorious as before because of my absence and my father's death. We were hit hard. This Esme knew all of this. The dirty look she was giving Leah said so.

"How did my mother work for you?"

I may not remember the woman but I wanted to know who she was if that made any sense.

Esme was more than willing to tell me. She came and took a seat next to me on the couch as if she was about to tell me a bedtime story. "Well, Carlisle and Tanya's father worked for us so it was only natural that we would look to his children to join. Carlisle was willing to for the sake of us leaving his sister out of it but as your mom's friend and planted in their lives to play the role, I convinced your mother that joining her brother in the agency was the best thing for her. It was then my handler realized I was very good at recruiting. In fact, I find it thrilling." Her eyes glazed over as she spoke. It was like she found pleasure in fucking up people's lives.

"So you fucked your friend over?" I asked her.

She smiled. "If you want to look at it like that but because of my input she met your father even if she was planted there. She had you and Michael."

"Look how that turned out for us?" I said sarcastically.

Esme laughed. "I think you and Bella turned out very well. And as for Michael, well that was an unfortunate event. I think the Chekov boy took things too far when he kidnapped him."

I felt anger when she said that for some reason. I didn't remember Michael, but there was this intense feeling there. A burning in my chest. I felt like I wanted to rip her tongue out for mentioning the guy.

"You talk as if you have always known us." I implied while trying to rein in my temper. These people were just fucking with us. This woman had been in my life since it started and has been fucking with it for just as long.

"I do," she answered confidently. "I made sure all that was supposed to happen right on time and precisely how it was planned."

"What's wrong with you, lady?" I asked. This shit sounded off the hinges. "You sound crazy."

"Some may call it crazy but I see it as genius," Esme replied with pride.

"Alright, Genius, who do you work for?" I asked.

"Well, to tell you that, Jasper, first we have to get _you_ back," Esme said.

I rolled my eyes and turned to her. But it was too slow. She had already stuck a needle in my neck. I grabbed her or I grabbed after her before the room spun out of control and I fell off the couch before everything faded to black.


	16. Chapter 16

_**Chapter Sixteen: Back to the Old Me**_

 _ **Jasper, April, 2007…**_

 _Everything had gone black and stayed that way for a while. I was asleep. I was aware of that. I felt weightless and carefree. Like I could do or be anything but there was something missing. I was here but I wasn't at the same time. I saw things. People I had forgotten but now remembered. I saw my mom, my dad and Michael. I remembered things from my childhood and teenage years. I recalled Peter and his pranks and Charlotte and her sass. I knew they were gone. Taken from me. And it hurt all over again._

 _I remembered trusted guys that worked with me, Pop and even my Granddad. I knew my old man was a hard ass and I missed him._

 _Then I remembered Bella and everything she meant to me. Our girls. I remembered the first time I heard about them and the first time I saw them. I missed them._

 _New secrets were revealed to me. Like my mother being a spy who placed in my dad's life to keep tabs on him and her training me to be aware of all the wrong things around me._

 _Yeah, I remembered that too._

 _Her little innuendos and skill training sessions along with how she wanted me to see things outside the box. I guess outside of there was Esme, waiting to corrupt me._

 _I also knew Leah had been lying to me for years. She worked for them._

Two months ago I opened my eyes a few days after Esme jammed a needle into my neck and spotted her at my bedside, staring at me with a creepy smile on her face as she watched me sleep.

I dragged myself to sit up in bed, my arms feeling like I hadn't used them in years. "What are you doing here?" I asked, hearing my voice crack.

"I wanted to be the first one you see when you woke up," Esme answered. "I'm sure you're aware of who I am?"

I didn't answer right away. I knew who she was. I knew everything. I remembered everything. Whatever Carlisle had done to me, it had been repaired by her. She had given me the antidote and now she was sitting here waiting on my answer.

"You're Esme Platt," I said with a roll of my eyes. "You work for the CAA."

She smiled and then burst into laughter. "There was never a dull moment with you, Jasper! Always so smart! How long have you known about us?"

"As long as you've known about me." I snapped, feeling bitter that she was the first one I saw when I woke up which meant Bella wasn't back yet. Whenever they had sent she and Edward, they hadn't released them from their mission and I was worried about that shit.

Esme looked surprised but pleased with my answer. I didn't care. I was thinking about how I was going to get my family away from the CAA. I didn't give a shit about anything but that.

Especially not Esme Platt.

I had known these bastards since my mother told me about them and then taught me how to tread carefully around them. The one thing she didn't tell me about was the other kids that existed in this…program of the CAA. It was really fucked up. So I didn't know about Bella or Alice.

That shit I found out later on. But before I ever came across Bella in Mexico.

At that time, I still had people looking into things for me. I was in love with the gangster life and the women that came with it but I didn't trust them and I wasn't stupid. I was taught to keep my eyes open for anything by Mom. She always thought the agency would send someone for me the way they sent her to be in with my pop.

So when I met Bella, after getting how enamored I was with her, I thought my mom was right and the CAA had finally sent someone to infiltrate my life and keep an eye on me and report back to them.

But as time went on and I met James and we devised a plan together, I realized that neither he nor his siblings knew anything about the CAA or Esme Platt.

I was shocked when I found out about Bella being Aro's kid. I knew then and there that she was an agency baby…like me. She was a sleeper agent only she didn't know it.

How was I going to break this to her?

That didn't matter. I had to get her out whatever situation they had her in first.

During my trial, I had planned on exposing the CAA a little too. I hated them. They had too power and control over our lives. They had ended some of the most powerful gangs over time…like the Volturi. After his father's death, Aro started working for them. I found out from a reliable source how he enjoyed it because they would let him get away with a lot of shit including killing my father and causing the demise of my baby brother and friends. And with psychos like Esme at his back, he thought he was invincible.

I knew I had a lot to tell Bella and to find out how much she knew. If she knew her whole life had been a set up. I was sure Esme had given her lowdown and had probably tried to get Bella to sign up. I hoped I wasn't too late. I had to get to her. I had to save her from making the mistake. She should not say yes to Esme. It would ruin our lives. I had to save her. To save my family. I wasn't about to allow my girls to grow up like their mother and me. Under the scrutiny of Esme and at the mercy of sick motherfuckers who only wanted to use us.

"So what's our name?" Esme casually asked me.

"The CAA."

"And it stands for?" She went on.

"The Central Authority Agency."

"What are we responsible for?" She quizzed me with a smirk on her thin lips.

I swallowed my anger at her attempt to make me feel like a five year old and answered her question without giving too much away. "Pretty much everything. You answer to people who are far more powerful than most world leaders."

She laughed and clapped her hands enthusiastically. "Very good! Tanya taught you well!"

Her mentioning my mother so casually irked me but I swallowed my anger and decided to feed her ego. "She taught me who to fear."

Her eyes gleamed with pride at my proclamation. "That's good. Then you know what I expect of you."

I slowly pulled myself up to get out of bed with Esme watching my every move. I picked up the robe lying on the bed and put it on. My legs felt wobbly but I stood tall, determined not to show this woman any weakness. I remembered her and everything my mom had warned me about when it came to dealing with her. Especially how unhinged she could be. Esme was someone to be afraid of but I wasn't about to let her intimidate me.

I knew what I had to do. I had to get rid of her.

I made my way around the bed without a word to Esme and headed out of the room. I knew she would follow me but I went to my daughters' room anyways. I had to see them. I had to look in on my babies. Their mother wasn't here. If she was I knew she would have been right there when I woke up.

Leah was watching over the girls. Jamie Lyn was asleep but Michaela was awake and in Leah's arms. She was smiling happily at my daughter while they played. It was a little weird seeing the edgy girl I knew being soft and caring with my kid knowing how hardcore and threatening she could be. Leah was one of the best bodyguards I had. She was feral. But watching her now, I saw a nurturing woman. I just stood by the door and watched them for a while, enjoying their moment.

"They are perfect," Esme mused, swiping away the good feeling I had looking in on my kids and replacing it with anger. "And they are growing so fast!"

"Don't admire them," I told her coldly. "They won't be a part of your little project."

"Don't be so sure," she countered. "They are the products of two very skilled killers. Do you think they'll be happy to know what mommy and daddy did before they were born? What they continue to do?" she said, taunting me. "I would be shocked if it was me and I found my mom was basically a cold blood killer who worked for the government and my dad was a gangster who killed people that crossed him."

I turned and looked at her, noticing the gleam in her evil eyes. She wanted me to a react. She wanted me to lose it and show her my hand by attacking her for badmouthing me and Bella while salivating after our kids. And I wasn't gonna give it to her.

"They need their mother," I said instead telling her to fuck off. "When is she coming back?"

"Could be today or tomorrow or next year," Esme continued to taunt me. "Who knows how long a mission will take?"

"Demetri Collins?" I said to her and I didn't have to say anything else as Esme's eyes brightened with guilt. His presence had been nudging me from the moment he showed up. He had to be one of them. He was getting away with too much not to be. And his whole stint of wanting Bella had to be a part of something sinister. Yeah, he was after my girl. She was hot! But He wanted something else too. I just didn't know what. And it had nothing to do with Bella working for him.

Her face held recognition while she covered the guilt in her eyes with an evil glare. "What about him?" she asked.

"Is he one of us?"

"There is an us?" She was trying to twist the question.

I wouldn't let her. I had a feeling Demetri was a part of the CAA and he wanted to use Bella and me to climb the ladder.

"And what if he was?"

" _Well, then shit…I would have to kill the bastard as soon as possible before he did something stupid like try and eliminate Bella and I would have to rip his spine out of his ass!"_ I thought.

I smiled at her. "I was just wondering."

Michaela let out a laugh and I looked at her and smiled. She was so happy in Leah's arms. Leah, on the other hand, looked like she was almost about to drop my daughter when she saw me standing there but she shook her head a little and gave me a small smile which I returned and watched her breathe a sigh of relief before turning her attention back to Michaela.

I didn't even care if Esme was watching. Leah was like a sister to me and it took guts to take on the CAA and stand by my side. She had been carrying the burden of that secret all this time and it sucked, so I wasn't about to shut her out. I don't know how Edward will take it, but Leah was family. That was it.

"Leah is always so worried about you," Esme interjected my good thoughts with her poisonous tongue. "She's very loyal to you. Once, I thought she was in love with you but it turned out she wanted your cousin, Edward instead."

I didn't answer her. She was just fishing and I wasn't biting.

"Aren't you leaving?" I asked.

She laughed. "Tired of me already?"

"Yes."

Esme kept a smile on her face as she stared at me. I didn't have to look her in the eye to know what she was trying to do. And if she was trying to intimidate me she was only pissing me off and driving another nail in her coffin because I was the old me again and I was going to bring this bitch down. She was standing here thinking her shit was golden and her little project for CAA had worked. That Bella and I would say yes to her and work for her.

Esme's demise was a long time coming. I had been planning for her for years. Since my mother's death. She had been more powerful in those days. Mostly untouchable and I had the rest of my family to worry about. But she has wiped them out. Aro's deal with the Chekov gang was her doing. CAA had a handle on the most powerful crime syndicates in the world. They had a hand in everyone's cookie jar, stealing our sweets. So this bitch knew exactly what would be going down and she didn't do a thing about it. My pop's assassination. My brother's death. Peter and Charlotte and all who I have lost. This bitch knew.

And Bella…she lost James. Yeah, Esme knew. And her ass was here, smiling while telling me the best thing for Bella and I was to work with her. Esme wanted us to be her puppets. But she had another thing coming.

Esme lingered around for a while. I quizzed her about Bella and Edward but she refused to give me any information on their location. I wasn't worried. Wherever they were, I was going to find them and extract them.

I knew I had some things to explain to Bella, including my knowledge about this shit. But I had to get her ass and Edward's off of that mission first because I was sure Esme had everything to do with it. It was a test for Bella. It had to be. Demetri was working for Esme or the CAA. But I knew more than that punk and I could bet they were just using him. He was being played. He was a pawn Esme was just laying him out there for Bella to overcome. And Edward…I hate to think it but my cousin was expendable. And I don't know if he'd make it home. But I wasn't about to say a word about that to Leah. It would break her heart and I had to protect her too. She had been under the bitch's influence for too long.

You see, I knew the secret. My mom had taught me what the CAA truly wanted. And from what I found out when I realized there were other kids in the program, I knew what they were training us for. Some kids would be leaders and others were soldiers. I was a leader. Bella was a soldier. She was taught without her knowledge to take action by any means necessary. While I was taught to lead anyone and manipulated others in order to get my way. We were their puppets but I was determined to cut the strings.

"I will be taking my leave now," Esme said to me.

"Good." I kept my eyes on Michaela in Leah's arms while she smiled for her aunty and made little baby sounds like she wanted to have a conversation with her.

"I will be seeing you soon, I hope."

I didn't answer her but I felt her close proximity as she leaned in and kissed my cheek. "My, my, my you turned out to be very handsome." She practically purred in my ear. "The things I would do to you. Mmm…"

I tried not to cringe as she ran her hand down my arm, slightly touching my leg. I felt violated as fuck. I wanted to slap the sick bitch away but I refrained.

I turned and looked into her lust filled eyes, stoically saying to her, "Aren't you leaving?"

She bristled and backed off. "You will learn to be more compliant to me, Jasper. I have broken guys like you before. All it takes is one good threat, maybe Bella being locked up in a secluded prison on the other side of the world with some very horny guards. Let's see how precious she would be to you after they were through with her!" Leah was listening so she turned her attention to her. "And Edward, with his charming looks would make a good bitch! Imagine what they would do with your little nerd, Leah! Both of you! Watch your step with me! And learn to obey…" She ran a hand down to my butt cheek, squeezing it. "Or I'll make you regret it!"

With that warning, she was gone.

I stepped away, suddenly needing a shower.

About an hour later I found Leah downstairs with both girls and Carlisle in the living room.

"I see the bitch left," he said.

"She warned us and then felt Jasper up and stormed out," Leah offered.

Carlisle was watching me. They both were while I was watching my girls and thinking how big they were getting.

"What do you want to do?" Carlisle asked. He could see what I was thinking.

I smirked evilly. "What the fuck do you think I want to do?"

Carlisle smiled back and Leah joined in too with an equally devious grin of her own. "Then let's get Bella and Edward home," she said.

"And then?" Carlisle asked.

"We take the bitch and everything that goes along with her down." I sneered.

"It won't be easy," Carlisle said.

"Never said it was going to be," I told them. "Now let's get Bella and Edward home."


	17. Chapter 17

_**Chapter Seventeen: Mission Abduction**_

 _ **Bella, April, 2007…**_

My babies were four months old and I hadn't seen them for more than two months. I felt like I was going crazy. I should not be out here. I should be at home with them.

But I wasn't.

I was in Prague in the Czech Republic on a mission to find a government agent who had gone rogue and was trading secrets for very large sums of money. My mission was to find him and eliminate him. It was as simple as that. But the fucker was a slippery bitch and it was taking forever to get to close enough to him to kill him.

So far I had gotten four chances to kill the son of a bitch so I could go home to my girls and Jasper, but when I came across him, it was in public and I was to do this discreetly so walking up to the bastard and shooting him in the market place while he shopped for fruits with his plaything on his arm, trying to impress his way into her panties, would have been bad.

Edward wasn't doing too well either. He wanted me to just kill the punk wherever so we could go home. I could understand his anxiety as we each had things to work out with our significant others. I mean, we had been gone since February. Fucking February!

But while this assignment was pissing us off, Demetri was all smiles. His lingering looks in my direction were a bit unnerving sometimes. I didn't know what he was thinking when his beady eyes were on me, but it was freaking me out. He continued badmouth Jasper whenever he came around to check on us. He wanted me to feel like there was no point in assisting Jasper. I should just give up on him.

I wasn't about to.

And if he thought he could try anything with me, he had another thing coming. I would break every damn bone in his body first. I had spent enough wanting to slap his little grins off of his pathetic face when he taunted me about Jasper being inadequate without his memories.

"It's actually refreshing seeing him so lost," he had said with a laugh the last time he was here. "To watch him in that interrogation room and knowing he didn't remember shit was amazing! It was so awesome to watch the big, bad Jasper Whitlock sit there being clueless." He continued to laugh.

I didn't answer him. I had let him say what he wanted. I wasn't a pussy. I just knew I would have killed him on the spot and it would have messed things up for me and my family.

I was going to get rid of him. I just had to be wise about how I went about doing it.

To Demetri, Jasper was now expendable and getting rid of him would be us being merciful.

When he suggested it, I remembered Esme's offer and I was beginning to think it was the solution. Working with whoever she worked with could help me get rid of Demetri and anyone else who opposed my family. I could protect them better with someone like Esme at my side. She was powerful. So were the people she worked for. And I could be that powerful.

But I didn't want to do this without talking to Jasper first. Although what sense would make talking to him about him? He couldn't even remember me. I could just say yes to Esme and get the ball rolling. She thought nothing of Demetri. It was obvious she knew him but he wasn't important to her.

Something kept nagging me about Esme though. As much as I needed her help, I wasn't foolish enough to trust her. I would have to keep her at arm's length. I would have to let Rosie know what I was up to. Just as backup in case Esme was also a lying sack of shit who wanted to screw me over.

From the things she said to me, it was obvious that she knew too much about me. She was keen on Jasper and me and it was troubling. From her words, it was apparent that she had been there from the start. She knew our parents. She knew the truth about everything. She admitted that. She was Alice's mother for Christ sake! I mean that was a reason why I couldn't trust her. What kind of mother would send their child to infiltrate their sibling's life so they could destroy it? And Esme's or Alice's explanation before she died was that she wanted to be like me.

Why?

What kind of brainwashing did Aro or Esme have her under that she wanted to identify with me so much?

Alice was unhinged and no one helped her. Her parents just used her sickness to their advantage. It was sick! Why would I want to trust a woman like that with my life? Everything I thought I knew had probably been a lie. My life had obviously been a set up. What more was hidden from me?

"You okay?" Edward asked, putting a cup of coffee down in front of me.

"Yeah," I whispered with my mind still on Esme's offer.

"What are you thinking about?" he inquired, sitting down beside me with his own cup of java.

"Esme."

"Hmm." He replied with a sip of his own coffee.

"I'm thinking about Leah and wondering if Esme was right," he said. "Is she really working for her? Has she been working for her all this time? Is she really pregnant?"

I turned to him. Edward looked worried and I couldn't have that. "Hey…" I said, drawing his attention to me. "Keep your head in the game. We'll get this shit over with and get home…alive. You understand?" I told him.

He nodded. "Yeah, I got ya."

"Good."

I had more than killing this target to worry about. Edward's life was in my hands too. If this shit went awry, Edward would become expendable to me. I would have no choice but to drop him off like dead weight. I knew Demetri was hoping and praying for that to happen but I wouldn't let it. I was going to bring him back to his family. He shouldn't be out here to begin with. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized the truth.

This was a test.

Demetri had a team more than capable of getting this job done. Or they could have helped me. Not that I needed them. But he chose Edward. A book worm. A guy who when he was in the FBI, was in the administrative offices. He wasn't a field agent. This shit could definitely get him killed. Demetri had sent us on a suicide mission.

We were here too long.

This was taking too long.

Demetri had picked Edward just so he could get killed which brought me back to Esme and her little agency. If she knew so much, if she could do so much, then this could be their doing too. Which meant Demetri was working with her and the promotion he was working toward wasn't with the CIA, but with wherever Esme worked!

This was a set up.

How the fuck was I going to get us out of this?

Once I realized what was going on, I jumped up and dropped my coffee off on the table, not caring if it spill. I grabbed Edward up and dragged his protesting ass into the bathroom with me.

"Bella…what?!" He screamed at me.

I pulled out my gun and pointed it in his face.

"Strip!"

"What?!" He knitted brows showing how cross he was becoming with me for doing this shit.

I clicked the safety off and pointed the gun to his head. "Right the fuck now!" I demanded.

He huffed and complained but otherwise stripped naked. I made him climb into the shower and turned it on. He yelled when the water blasted him, hitting his skin, stinging him.

"Shut up!" I hissed.

Edward looked at me like I had lost my mind but he complied.

I knew I was frightening him but this was needed and I would explain. I was just doing what was necessary to get us out of this situation.

I stripped down to my panties and bra. Edward watched me with an alarmed look on his face. "Umm, Bella, listen…you're beautiful but I don't want to…"

"Oh shut the fuck up!" I sneered. "Yeah, you're good looking but I don't want you. Not like that. And your cousin would cut your balls off if you dared." I smirked, hoping the reminder of his family would make him relax.

Edward chuckled and shivered from the cool water hitting him. "Yeah, he would."

I grabbed our clothes and threw them out of the bathroom. I wasn't sure. But I couldn't risk them being bugged.

I lowered my gun and climbed into the shower with him.

"What are you doing?" Edward asked frantically. "Bella…"

"Shut up."

He obeyed and shut up for a while.

I let the water run while I thought of how to start explaining. I prayed I was doing the right thing sharing this with Edward. I hoped he wasn't a part of this shit. And I wasn't about to screw myself. "Bella, I don't know what's wrong but…"

"I'm gonna trust you because I don't think you're involved." It wasn't completely true. I was hoping he wasn't involved. "But if I'm wrong and you are, then I'm you have been warned about how terrible I can be and you know you'll be as good as dead right here, right now."

Edward actually looked frightened by my words. "Please…please…I…Bella, I'm not involved with anything besides anything that has to do with my family and Leah. Bella, I don't know what you have to do but please…" he begged me. "I just…I want to go home."

I sighed and there in the shower, I told Edward my theory.

At first he didn't want to believe it. But then some of the things I said began to sink in and I could see the realization dawn on his face and I watched as his fear turned into determination.

"We have to do this and get home." Edward told me with vigor as we left the shower. I grabbed the clothes and tossed him a towel to dry off.

I tried to keep my eyes off of certain parts of his anatomy but I glimpsed things and Edward saw when I saw and laughed at me. I laughed too before shaking my head. "Leah is cruel to herself," I said as I walked out of the bathroom after getting dressed.

We continued to talk about things but we kept our conversation coded. We didn't name names. We didn't elaborate. We purposely left sentences hanging in the air just in case someone was listening. It should be enough to know what we were saying to each other. And I was secretly glad Edward wasn't a part of this shit. He wasn't down some rabbit hole with these deceitful motherfuckers.

A week had passed before we finally got our shot at the bastard. It was perfect. It would be in public. To hell with Demetri's orders. I was going to do this my way. It would be at an opera. I had already been inside the opera house and had all my exits planned. I planned on getting Edward and me out of there after the job and into hiding because I think this job was a set up by Esme. She wanted something from me and if I didn't comply she was going to do something tragic. I had to get back to my family. As did Edward. So we would be playing her game until I got the job done.

This would be a sniper situation. It was the only discreet way to this and still have it be done in public. I had the perfect spot picked out for Edward and me in the attic like roof of this grand area. From there, I would have to best view in the house. My target would be seated in the skybox right across from my position in the roof so we should be in and out of there and on our way away from Demetri and his squad in no time.

I thought about Jake and I knew what he would say. He would think I was being paranoid especially since he had set his girlfriend, Angela to watch over us while we worked with Demetri, but I didn't trust her either. Hell, she was Esme's driver when I met her! How was I supposed to trust her to keep me and Edward safe?

I had made the mistake of trusting someone else and it turned out that she was my crazed sister who was in an imaginary competition with me. She tried to kill me. She got my brother killed. And Esme was her mother. Why would I trust anyone associated with her, outside of Leah?

No. My number one priority right now was doing this hit and getting Edward and me out of here.

Edward and I had gone over the plan over and over again. At first we agreed that he would wait for me in the getaway vehicle until I nixed that idea knowing that Demetri or any member of his team would probably be waiting to ambush us and Edward would be vulnerable to them if I left him out there.

Eventually we agreed that it would be best if he stayed with me.

This wasn't about Carlisle and his threat to hurt me if I got Edward killed. To hell with him! I was doing this for Jasper and Leah. I was protecting Edward for them.

Getting into the show was easy. Edward had gotten us tickets even though he was wondering why we were walking in through the front door.

"Because they are not expecting us to," I had said with a smile.

He returned it as he fixed his tie and then smoothed a hand over his suit. And I ran a hand through my hair, smoothing a strand back behind my ear.

"Let's go." I smiled at him as he grabbed the duffel bag with the sniper rifle and we walked out.

The hall was filled with patrons who came to watch the show when we arrived. We maneuvered our way through the crowd, acting like we belonged. Both and Edward and I spoke Czech so it was easy to converse with curious guests who thought we were a newlywed couple out to see the opera.

Before we had walked into the front door, Edward had hidden the bag with the gun in our spot.

I highly doubt a huge duffel bag would have gone with our attire for the evening. My navy blue floor length gown with the high spilt in the front showing off my right leg and the low cut back and Edward's suit would have looked strange with a huge black bag in tow.

As we were ushered into the theater for the opera, and were being guided to our seats, Edward and I slipped away. We went to the spot just as the show was about to begin. We watched me through the scope of the sniper and Edward through his own scope as he acted as my spotter, waiting for our target to take his seat. I was going to wait until the show had begun before taking him out. I wanted the distraction.

And it was exactly what I got. When the show began he came into my line of sight. He was at the right angle. Right point and the music grew loud enough I took the shot and it was over. No one in the audience realized until it was too late that my target had been hit.

Edward and I were out of there. We had run through our drill on escaping with the least amount of interference from anyone, especially security. I would hate to have to kill anyone else but if they got in my way, well, it would be their final mistake.

We were home free when we got outside, but I didn't feel the exhilaration and relief I saw on Edward's face and then I saw why.

"Well, well, Isabella," Demetri said, coming out of the shadows of the alley where Edward and mine's getaway car was parked. "You did good." He pointed his gun at us and I smiled.

"I knew this was a set up," I said confidently.

More guns clicked and then we found ourselves surrounded by his team. I moved in front of Edward. If this was going to go down, I had to make sure they took me and Edward could get out of here. He couldn't handle this. I could.

"I knew you were smart," Demetri said with triumph. "So if you'll come with us then we can get this over with."

"Before I do that, I want to know…"

"What?'

"Whose bitch are you?"

I could hear chuckles around us as Demetri's face contorted with anger. I watched him closely. My hand ready to reach for my handgun. Ready to get Edward out of there.

Demetri laughed and then raised his weapon, ready to shoot me. "She said you'd be a challenge but to hell with it, I can't wait." And then he fired his weapon. The alley lit up with lights from firing guns as I dragged Edward down or he pulled me down. No. He fell on top of me.

"Are you okay?' Edward asked, and he sounded winded.

My dress felt wet. In front. No. "Shit! You're hit!"

"I think so!"

More shots were ringing out like Chinese New Year fireworks. "I've got to get you out of here!" I told Edward as the sounds of the shots sounded like someone else was here and Demetri's team was being ambushed. "Edward, you've got to get off of me so I can move us!" I dragged Edward further behind the dumpster not wanting him to get hit again. I needed to save him. We needed to go somewhere so I could see the damage and pray it wasn't too bad.

He obeyed, slowly pulling himself off of me and falling to the side. The shots slowed and I found my gun. I didn't hesitate. I just shoot the first bastard that found us hiding behind the dumpster we had fallen beside. It was one of Demetri's men found us and I pumped him three bullets into him. Another one grabbed me from behind by my hair and began to pull me away from Edward.

I grunted in pain and flipped my body over, kicking him in the face, but before I could shoot him, I saw a gun raised in his direction so I got down as someone else shot the bastard. When I got up and turned around, ready to fight whoever this was so they couldn't get to Edward, I saw the fire in his eyes as he stalked over to me like a fierce animal on the hunt.

Jasper.

It was Jasper.

His gun felt hot as he grabbed me, pulling me into his arms and planting a fiery kiss on my lips. It felt like longing and passion all rolled into one. Making me realize that this was Jasper. Not the guy without any memory of me that left in Colorado back in February, this was my Jasper. The guy I had fallen in love with. But how?

I didn't have time to think about it because I saw Demetri aiming for Jasper. I shouted, "No!" and spun us around before Jasper could react and took the bullet intended for him.


	18. Chapter 18

_**Chapter Eighteen: Rescue me**_

 _ **Jasper, 2007…**_

 _ **French and Czech translations taken from Bing Translator.**_

My contact said they were in Prague. So I was on a private jet heading to Prague. I hoped I wasn't too late. Knowing that Demetri Collins was Esme's lapdog made this flight feel like hell. The questions and the worry plagued me. What if? That was all I could think. What if I was too late?

Then again, if I was too late and shit had already gone down, if they harmed one hair on Bella's head, I was going to kill every damn one of them.

"You need to stay calm," Carlisle warned me.

"I am calm." I sneered at him through gritted teeth. "I just want to get there and make sure they are alright."

"I know."

"Sven said it's some guy who stole government secrets and some shit," I said. "That's who they are after."

"And Edward and Bella are to…" Carlisle left the rest of question hanging.

"Exactly."

After Esme left the compound, I had gotten on my phone and made contact with the one person I knew who could help me make this happen the way I wanted. To hell with being in hiding. If I stayed undercover, then I would be giving free reign over my life and she would use that shit at her advantage so she could control me and my family. I wasn't about to let that happen. I wasn't about to give her any more power over me than she already had.

I was stepping out in the open and with _her_ by my side, no one would be able to touch me. Leah was nervous about us stepping out in the open or making contact with someone who was essentially her boss in the CAA.

Leah was afraid I would be arrested once I made myself known since I was technically an escaped convict but that was what my contact would be for. To expunge my record.

"Do you think she will do it?" Leah asked as I packed. The call had gone well. She was willing to meet.

"She will." I knew I could convince my contact give me what I want even if I had to promise to work with her until the day I left this Earth. I would bring Esme and Aro or anyone else who stood in my way down by any means necessary.

Leah wasn't invited to go along with me when I met with my contact to get my comeback show on the road because…one, she was pregnant and I didn't want Edward choking the shit out of me for putting his pregnant wife in danger for my ass. Two, I didn't trust anybody else with my girls. They loved her and she would protect them with everything she got. Jacob Black was staying behind as her backup and his dad was sparing a few guys to watch over them while I was away. Billy Black loved the idea of me stepping out of the shadows and taking my throne back.

I knew Bella meant the world to him and Jake.

Jake had explained to me about his girlfriend, Angela, playing both sides of the coin when it came to Esme and Demetri so she could watch Edward and Bella's backs. But it wasn't enough for me. The best thing for them was extraction. End the fucking game Esme was playing. There would be no recruitment of Bella for her sick, little game. The CAA had been fucking around in our lives for too long and if I could use them to destroy their own damn selves from the inside out then that was what I was going to do.

So I reached out to the woman on top. The one person I knew even Esme Platt would be afraid of.

Didyme Cottrell.

Didyme Cottrell was one of the first of the CAA. She was a cold hearted snake when she wanted to be. She was evil when necessary and nothing could easily change her mind once it was made up. It was going to be hard but I was hoping to offer her a better deal than Esme because I knew how much she loved a good deal.

Anything she could use against you or to take or to overthrow another person, family, or enterprise with was something that greatly enticed Didyme.

I had only met her couple of times in my younger years. And back then, you could tell that this was someone who nightmares were made of. When she walked into a room, I swore the place would grow as cold as ice. She was the epitome of an Ice Queen.

I was venturing on an impossible mission but it needed to be done if I wanted my power back. I was a Whitlock and I wanted the world I came from to know this Whitlock wouldn't be knocked off his throne so easily. I had done what was right for my family and had paid greatly for it.

It was time to return the favor, ten times fold, to the motherfuckers who chose to mess with me.

The day I left the compound with Carlisle after reaching out to Didyme was the hardest day of my life. I had been given a time and a place for transport to pick me up and take me to the meeting spot and it pained my heart to leave my girls behind. But I was doing this for them. I was going to get their mother back.

Carlisle was coming with me. He drove us out of town heading to the meeting spot to wait for transport. The drive was done in silence. I rode in the back, dressed in my suit with my growing hair sleeked back like how I used to wear it. Didyme was nostalgic. She rarely liked change. So I thought it best to go to her looking like the boss I was.

My mom had taught me to know as much as you could about your enemy right down to their favorite color. And I knew Didyme. I had spent time studying what I could about her in the past. I knew she was born in Marseille, France. She spoke English but she was fluent in her native tongue of French. She had an American father, a soldier, who had settled in Marseille after he was done with the army and fell in love or lust with her mother. I wasn't sure about that part, and I didn't care. She was an army brat who become a soldier herself and worked her way through the government until somehow the CAA was born and she found herself in the agency which she now ran.

When I had met her, because my mom was one of her favorite agents, she had taken a liking to me. She had told my mother that she saw great potential in me. Something that could be molded into a thing from more powerful than a mobster's son.

I never forgot her words because I was both delighted to hear them but I also loathed them in the same breath. It was like she was saying, "Yeah, he's a good kid. Smart. Something we could work with. Make him into the male version of you, Tanya. A good, little spy. Something far better than a criminal's kid."

It was insulting to hear and even though Pop and I were never really in good standings I wasn't about to let anyone get away with insulting him.

When I spoke up in his defense to her that day, Didyme just laughed in my face and then did the strangest thing…she hugged me.

"Yes, he would be a wonderful addition." Her eyes had glowed with something wicked that day while she said this to me. It sent shivers down my spine. And I knew I would never be rid of this woman.

The funny thing was…I needed her now more than ever.

There was no need for transport when Carlisle and I arrived at the location given. There, in the open space of the woodland area stood a parked helicopter, waiting. Outside of it, stood Didyme, dressed in her black suit and trench coat, looking a bit older but every bit as beautifully flawless and evil as the last time I saw her, being flanked by her bodyguards. Two guys who looked ready to crush me to death with their bare hands while the other two inside the chopper.

Carlisle got out of the SUV first and came to my door, opening it. I took a breath before I got out, hoping this bitch wasn't thinking about putting one between my eyes as soon as she got me in her line of sight and fuck up my plans.

She didn't.

Instead she opened her arms to me with a rare smile on her face and said in a thick French accent, "Oh, mon cher, doux garçon, come to Ms. Didyme."

I took a deep breath in and let it out, saying, "Fuck it…" under my breath and went to her. She said I was her dear, sweet boy so I allowed her to pull me into her waiting arms for a strong hug. "Oh, mon, mon, you've gotten so big! I can barely get my arms around you!" She sounded so happy to see me.

Was she sick in the head? Was this really Didyme? Had she gone senile? Why was she happy to see me?

We parted and she took a long while, just looking at me before she said, "Cher garcon, you look so much like your mère. You have her eyes."

I gritted my teeth at the mention of my mother. "Oh, I'm so sorry, mon cher. Tanya was one of my best. Sending her to be with your father was a good mission that turned out to be great once you came into the equation. It opened the door for new opportunities. Mais, she did disappoint me when she fell in love with him." I bristled at that. "But then you were born and I was pleased at her insistence to keep you and when you started to display the same potential I saw in your mother, well, I knew you were valuable."

As I listened to her, I wanted to slap her…hard. So hard I knew I would break something. She was all over the place. First, she was telling how happy she was to see me then she was insulting my mother's loyalty.

"I need your help," I said, cutting off our trip down memory lane.

"Do you?" Didyme teased, poking my chest. "I know all about your little predicaments. Your prison time. I loved how you spoke out against the powers who wanted to destroy our fine partnership." _I wanted to speak out against you too, but I wasn't stupid. I knew I had to deal with you another way._ "I acknowledge your loyalty by going to prison and I admire Bella's love and loyalty to you for having your babies and breaking you out of prison." She laughed a little. "Bella Swan…ah! Bella Volturi, she's a sweet girl. Beautiful and dangerous. I love her. She entertains me. I see great potential in Bella and your babies." My heart sped up when she said that.

"Yes, Ms. Didyme."

She smiled brightly at my insistence of calling her 'Miss', but I did so because I knew what kind of beast she was and how she used to complain about the generations after her lacking good manners. And since she was a creature of habit, I doubt that had changed. I had once witnessed her beat a man to near death for not begging for his life harder when I was younger. She had told my mother to let me watch, saying it would be a good lesson in power for me. I was to learn how to rule and that sometimes it was necessary for the powerful to display their power.

She glanced over at Carlisle. "Oh my dear, I heard your son is working with Bella."

"What does that mean, Ms. Didyme?" Carlisle asked.

"Well, I'm sure Esme explained her motive to you for wanting to kill Edward," Didyme said to him like it was nothing. "I mean, he is a liability which makes him expendable. I know Bella won't do it so I'm sure Esme didn't ask her. But if it were me, I would have smothered him in his crib."

Carlisle looked ready to kill her. I knew he wanted to react. But I couldn't let him. I glared at him, silently willing him to back down before she killed him right here. He should know better anyways since he had been working for the CAA long enough to know how dangerous this woman was. How ruthless she could be. So he shouldn't be thinking about doing some dumb shit right now. It would only fuck things up for us. We wanted to get Bella and Edward home alive not in body bags.

He took a deep breath and backed off. But he was still as angry as fuck.

She playfully slapped my arm to gain my attention. "Did I make him mad?" she asked and then she giggled like she thought it was funny.

I smirked at her, watching her cheeks turn rosy red as she blushed and batted her eyelashes at me. "I think you did."

"Oh, he needs to lighten up," she said loud enough for Carlisle to hear. "He should be thankful I allowed him to live a happy life with his son for so long. I could have killed his little munchkin long ago. So he should be thanking me!"

I looked at Carlisle again who looked like he was looking for a way to attack her and I didn't need this shit. He needed to appease to her. Not attack her for the dumb shit she was saying.

He nodded and then said to Didyme. "Thank you, Ms. Didyme. I'm very grateful."

She nodded and then turned her attention to me. "I know why you're here. I practically raised you so I know I taught you not to beg." She sighed.

"Yes, Ms. Didyme."

"I know you want to extract Bella and Carlisle's boy."

"I do."

"I can give you Bella."

"I need Edward too."

She cocked an eyebrow at me for daring to negotiate with her but I wasn't about to leave Edward behind. "Why do you need him?"

"I just do." I told her.

"Does he keep Leah in line?"

She was giving me a good idea. "Yes."

"Hmm…" She looked pensive. "You want something and I need something. If I give you what you want then you have to give me something in return."

I was hoping she didn't want to fuck. I had known this woman for most of my life. And I knew she liked them young but I wasn't about to let my cock go anywhere near her nether regions.

I had Bella for that and my dick and I were quite about that.

"What do you want?" It was a loaded question and I feared the answer but it needed to be asked anyways.

Didyme smiled evilly. "I want you to go back and take charge of your family business and I will give you something in return."

"Aro?" I wanted that bastard. I was salivating for him.

Didyme laughed. "Not yet. I'm still having fun hiding him from you."

I knew she would know where he was. But she wasn't going to tell me. Not yet.

"I gave that life up." I lied.

"No," Didyme said. "You will always be a Whitlock and powerful. I am willing to clear your records. The most recent ones. I'll call it a fluke in the system and have your recent record expunged."

"I went to court. I was charged and sentenced and it was publicized." I argued.

Didyme smiled. "I dare them to tell me no."

I guess I was going back to Chicago then. "So I'm heading back to Chicago?"

"If you want." She told me nonchalantly. "I think you are powerful enough to rule from anywhere. I like it here in Colorado. I want the girls to grow up safe and ready to work."

"Ms. Didyme, I didn't want them in the life."

She cocked an eyebrow at me again. "I don't care what you want. I am telling you how it will be."

"Now if I allow you to save Bella and Edward, if I allow you to raise your girls in the little family you and Bella have created with your family and friends, and not kill Carlisle or Rosalie or Charlie or Leah or Emmett and let you watch them die like your parents, your brother, Peter and Charlotte, and countless friends, then the price is you coming back as Jasper Whitlock, leader of the Whitlock gang and Bella Swan taking Esme's place and working for me."

I spent the rest of the flight thinking about what Didyme wanted. She told me I didn't have to give her an answer right away, and as good faith, she was allowing me to go and save Bella from Esme's little test by whatever means I wanted to use.

Apparently, Esme and Didyme weren't seeing eye to eye anymore. Esme wanted the throne and thought she was worthy of it. She wanted to push Didyme out and Didyme wasn't about to have that.

Bella and I were pawns in the game going on between Esme and Didyme. We had to pick a side and I went with what I knew. I would have to speak to Bella and pray she would understand. I didn't want her working for Didyme but I didn't want her to die either. I didn't want to lose her so I was going to selfishly convince her to say yes to Didyme.

Sven, my contact in Prague, met Carlisle and me at the airport.

"She is about to do the job," Sven told us. He had been keeping tabs on Bella and Edward.

Sven was a good shadow. Skilled killer. You only saw him until it was too late. We had a good working relationship and I was paying a hefty sum for him to just scout instead of kill. The bastard charged more to keep his target alive.

But I had the dough. My monies were back in my accounts. My accounts had been activated according to Leah. Even Emmett could freely call me. He was being brought back home from England to work by my side. My contacts were restored.

Even Sven, here in Prague, knew I was back.

"Jsem rád, že jsi zpátky, šéfe," Sven said in Czech telling me it was good to have me back with a strong handshake.

I held his hand just as firm. "Jsem rád, že jsem zpátky, Svene." Telling him it was good to be back.

Sven took us to the apartment Bella and Edward were staying at. They were already gone. Sven was going on and on about how he admired Bella's technique and telling me whenever she would like to team up he would make himself available as he was in awe of her while I was getting angrier by the second. We needed to find them now.

"Je to zkušený zabiják, Jasper," he said with admiration about how he thought Bella was a skilled killer.

All his talking about her just made me long for her. I couldn't wait to see her.

I shouldn't have thought that.

When we saw Bella, it was in an alley and Sven and I were trying to hold Carlisle back as Bella stood in front Edward to protect him while Demetri threatened them. And when the shot went off, I was as mad as Carlisle. Fuck it. I started to fire and watched Bella pull Edward further behind the dumpster. I shot Demetri's men after we ambushed them. Between me, Carlisle and Sven, we killed the members of Demetri's corrupt team.

All but one.

He was dragging Bella away from Edward and I watched as she kicked him away. She saw me she got flat, letting me get to kill the punk.

I went over to her. She turned and saw me standing there. I didn't wait for her to speak I just planted my lips on hers. When I pulled away, the way she looked at me, told me she knew it was me. I had remembered her and everything about our life together.

But I didn't have time to react. Bella spun us around and took a bullet for me that was fired from Demetri's gun. I emptied my clip firing wildly in his direction while I cradled her warm body to me.

He got away.

I lifted Bella up in my arms. Carlisle and Sven were helping Edward. "Come on, baby…" I said to her with a kiss to her forehead. "It's not going to end here."

She groaned in response as I got us out of there as fast as I could.


End file.
